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Mardi Gras

The last day before Lent: king cake in New Orleans, with gumbo and jambalaya for the parades.

Mardi Gras Day, New Orleans: Krewe of Kosmic Debris revelers on Frenchmen Street
Photo: Infrogmation of New Orleans, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What is eaten for Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday, the last day to eat richly before Lent. In New Orleans the season runs from Epiphany and is marked by king cake, a ring of sweet dough iced in purple, green and gold with a small plastic baby inside. Whoever finds the baby buys the next cake. Parade days are fed from big pots of gumbo and jambalaya. In rural Louisiana riders go from house to house collecting ingredients for a shared gumbo. In France the day is for crêpes, waffles and fried dough.

The dishes

King cakeIced ring with a hidden baby, eaten from Epiphany to Mardi Gras.GumboThe communal pot of the Cajun Mardi Gras run.JambalayaRice with sausage and meat, made for crowds.

Also part of it, and being written: Beignet (Fried dough under icing sugar.), Hurricane (The rum drink of the French Quarter.).

More dishes made for Mardi Gras

Red beans and riceMeat 🇺🇸 United StatesSlow-cooked red beans with pork and vegetables, served over white rice Main dish, Lunch, Dinner
About this page

Written by the Thali desk with AI assistance. Background: "Mardi Gras" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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