nola news

There were 2 interesting food-related bits of news from New Orleans this week...

One was the 'almost' shooting of Chef Paul Prudhomme at the Zurich Classic golf tournament.  Prudhomme was reportedly setting up for a cooking demo for some of the golfers when a bullet pierced his white jacket and scratched his arm.  After examination, he continued on with the demo a few minutes later.  Police speculate that the shot was from a falling bullet after someone elsewhere fired a shot into the air.  Although this may seem strange to some, it rings familiarity with anyone who has lived in and around New Orleans.  If this scares you in any way, then do not allow yourself to be anywhere outside at midnight on New Year's eve when New Orleanians all over pull their guns out and fire shots into the sky... I witnessed this firsthand when bicycling home after closing the Italian restaurant I was working when I first moved to the Crescent City years ago... I never pedalled so fast in my life!

In the words of Capt. Charlie on the Wild Wild West Bank...

"I'm happy that the big man wasn't hurt. And; while the rest of the world was agast that this could occur at a major PGA tournament, the event made me homesick for my gunhappy, devil may care West Bank."

The other food-related story was the passing of Al Copeland from complications during his cancer treatment in Germany.  Copeland has been an eccentric public figure throughout my entire growing life in South Louisiana.  Most of the world knows him mainly as the founder of Popeye's Famous Fried Chicken and Biscuits.  He has always retained a name in the headlines for his tackiness... whether it involved warring with his neighbors over Christmas decorations in the name of the Christmas Spirit, painting the Landmark hotel pink and baby blue, his violent public feuds in ways that would have made the Godfather proud, or publicly battling with other local celebs such as Anne Rice.  They don't make them like that anymore.  Rest in peace and chicken grease.

Comments

[uwe]

My favorite was Al's helicopter dressed up like a chicken. That man had enormous gizzards. Let's all lift our glass of strawberry soda to Papa Popeye!