Fun fact: the very first post on the Feisty Foodie was about Mother’s in New Orleans. (This is half true; it’s definitely the oldest post, though I started blogging a few years after its date – when I switched to Blogger, I backdated the post to the appropriate date. I first started foodblogging on Xanga, which, at the time, did not allow you to change the date of posts. But my meal(s) at Mother’s had so moved me that I felt compelled to write about it years after I ate there, because I wanted to document it.)
Also fun fact: after Hurricane Katrina, one of the first things I did while everyone assessed damage – I googled Mother’s to make sure it hadn’t been destroyed by the storm.
This place means a lot to me – and as I get older and life unfolds more, it means even more. (Things that don’t need to be discussed on a food blog.) When I was discussing with Jenn places that I absolutely wanted to hit without regard to anything else, this was high on the list. I would have gone after Willie Mae’s, actually, since we drove by afterwards on our way out of NOLA and there was no line, but I couldn’t justify attempting to eat that much in one afternoon. Saturday morning, we planned to arrive in New Orleans early – I had a 2pm flight home – and hit up Mother’s, then Cafe du Monde one last time. My heart sank when we arrived and there was a line forming already out the door and down the block, though I happily discovered it was moving…
then discovered that it was so early, they were not yet serving lunch/dinner items. Crawfish etouffee – the first place I’d ever had it – slipped out of reach, as did the Ferdi po’boy I so craved. But I soldiered on.
Once we were inside the doors, there was another line, and I discovered that I could have my etouffee! in the form of an omelet. I can do that!
It came with grits on the side – extremely plain grits that I added salt and butter to – and was filled with crawfish etouffee as well as topped generously with it. Oh my gaaaaaa, this was delicious. Non-tomato based, and just savory to no end, I was in heaven. It was a lot of food, but I trooped through it and I believe I ate every last scrap (and left some grits). SO GOOD. I was over the moon happy that I’d not gotten discouraged by the line nor the fact that I couldn’t have the etouffee over rice, the way I think it’s “meant to be” served.
Breakfast also came with a fluffy biscuit, butter and house-made raspberry preserves, which I happily nommed down. The biscuit was fluffy to almost unbelievable quality, where I said aloud “If more biscuits tasted like this, I might actually consider myself a biscuit person.” (My one failing as one who claims to be a Southern girl at heart is my lack of love for biscuits.) The raspberry preserves made their way onto my biscuit; mixed with butter, ahhh, love.
Jenn suggested I take a photo of her beautiful muffin, so I did. She seemed thoroughly enamored of it as well; it had a very unique structure that I failed to capture in photo form – the top was almost like a table, extra muffin top. Possibly extra leavening ingredient?
And… happily… while I’d earlier lamented not being able to have a Ferdi since they were not serving lunch yet, I saw someone taking one to go so when I got to the front of the line, I breathlessly asked if I could also order a Ferdi to go, for the plane. No hesitation: yes. YES. YES!!!
There’s no scale in this picture, but the sandwich is easily as long as, if not longer than, my forearm – approximately 10″ I guess? (I’m a tall girl.)
The Ferdi is a beautiful amalgamation of their famous ham, roast beef, gravy, ‘debris’, and a bunch of toppings. I ate this much later – and found it much more mustardy than my memory tells me. Which is funny because I’m much more accepting of mustard now than I was 11 years ago, but I still enjoyed it. There’s something about this type of sandwich that rejects all notions of the ‘rules’ I’ve set up for myself in terms of sandwich enjoyment: the bread is woefully soft, there’s little to no “crunch” in the entire thing, and there’s a bit more going on than I generally prefer in sandwiches – some warring within the bread, so to speak. However, the satisfaction achieved from consuming one of these, the happiness brought about by doing so, just exceeds so many other things. I was incredibly happy with it, though I grudgingly say that this is one thing from New Orleans that perhaps does not hold up to the memory of it. But if it’s the only thing that doesn’t, I am happy to say this was a very successful re-visit to New Orleans.
Overall, don’t be scared off by lines at Mother’s. I mean, I guess it could have been much longer – it barely reached the parking lot (those who visit or have visited will understand that measure) – but it moved fairly quickly, and we found a table to sit and eat. I would not hesitate to visit again, though I may stick to crawfish etouffee next time… and try something else 😉
Love. This concludes my posts about my recent visit to Louisiana… hope you enjoyed eating vicariously through me!
SkippyMom says
You’re a southern girl? giggle – Okay….I think I have heard it all in the land of blogging.
For what’s it’s worth, I have been in the “south” for 43 years – not the deep south, mind you – we’re talking Virginia, still – a whole lot closer to live than vacation – and I have never been a biscuit girl. EVER.
I have tried everything. And with a Mother and Grandmother from NY [who didn’t bake anyway] I have no idea what a good biscuit, home made tastes like.
Now – THAT biscuit? With some etouffe to sop it up with? Skip the egg baby – I am nomming that.
And btw – real southerners – eat grits [which, yes, taste really plain b/c we don’t go all “fancy” with the Shrimp and Grits bs. or whatnot] – but southerners eat their grits very hot with butter and pepper. What’s with the salt?
I loved the heck out this review and I am so glad that NO was a culinary gift for you – I just got quite a chuckle out of it.
Feisty Foodie says
I’m a southern girl at heart, yes. I’ve mentioned that here on the blog more than a few times… bad stalker!
This biscuit was incredible. I am going to have to politely disagree with you on the grits not having salt; while yes, southerners eat grits with butter, lots of them eat it with salt as well. I have enough southern experience to know that without a doubt. : P
Corinne Flax says
Wow. This just looks too delicious. Makes me want to get on a plane NOW.
Feisty Foodie says
Right? So worth the trip. BTW, round trip airfare was remarkably inexpensive. I believe less than $200? I don’t remember now but it was the least I’ve ever paid for airfare, ever (though I flew out on a Wednesday and came back on Saturday).
hungry says
Is the service at Mother’s just take out and you find your own seat? I’m just a bit confused with the line for the omelet and the line for the take out sandwich.
Feisty Foodie says
Apologies; it’s one line. During breakfast (this might change at lunch, where you may be able to direct them as to sandwich contents), you order when you get to the front of the line, which is also where you pay, then find your own seat. They bring out your food when it’s ready – either on a tray, or in a bag if you’re taking it to go.