SugarFest

[bixaorellana]

While in Louisiana recently to attend a family reunion, my sister & I enjoyed a pleasant couple of hours in lovely West Baton Rouge Parish,
attending the SugarFest in Port Allen. Sugar has been economically important in Louisiana since before it was a state, so let's go celebrate it.

Great views of river traffic as we zip across the bridge ~










Approaching the magnficently art deco state capitol building ~




And soon we were there ~


"there" being ~


Already there are interesting things to see, such as this giant object at the entrance to the park ~

[bixaorellana]

This tiny booth caught my eye & nose immediately. This lady looks like a nice, regular person, doesn't she?
Well, she's actually a species of genius angel, someone who turned out pralines that can only be described as platonic.
There was a steady stampede to her tent the whole time we were at the festival.


Her ingredients: evaporated milk, sugar, pecans, butter, & the teeniest pinch of baking soda ~


Let's just wander around ~


Lots of old-timey stuff on display or for sale, such as these vintage linens ~


The sun came & went, but it was overall a beautiful day ~








A graphic illustration of why sugar production needed to be mechanized ~


You could order up some tintypes of yourself ~


A graphic illustration of why we didn't ~


Interior of a slave cabin. Despite the smiling docent, most people seemed sobered by the display ~

[bixaorellana]

There was quite a mix of eras ~
                                                                                





And look who's here!
                     

                                                      

Beautiful wooden boats and their motors ~

[bixaorellana]

That green building in the penultimate picture above was the venue for some good old Louisiana music.
Please set the video to 480p (instead of the default 360p) for a better listening experience.


And now for an educational interlude.
You can see an alligator trap & other neat stuff over on the right side of the sign, but the real fun is taking place on the left.


But first read this & commit it to memory ~




          

Learn how to make the right noises to attract a 'gator ~


The kids loved this ~






One of the men monitoring the kids told me that they were able to handle the baby alligators because they'd been accustomed to humans since hatching. He said, however, that once past a certain age, no amount of previous exposure to humans would keep the alligators from attempting to make a meal of one.

[bixaorellana]

There were other activities for kids, things more likely to result at worst in a skinned knee rather than missing digits ~
          



Distracted by the ambrosial scent of boiling blackstrap molasses, I failed to get photos of the
farm animals, rope making, and other interesting displays in the large open area past this section.
You can see that everyone is happy and entertained, though ~


Due to the press of other fascinated attendees, I didn't get all the pictures I wanted of these models showing the workings of the sugar making process ~






                             

An extremely pleasant day ~


But it's time to go back to St. Francisville. Sugar cane cast in bronze at the entrance to the park ~
                             

Leaving town, we drove our Nissan past the levee. The levee was dry. 'Bye!

[mossie]

A super report Bixa. Very nice to see a real country type of event, not all professional.

[htmb]

Loved your pictures, bixa. What fun! We have cane boils here, but I don't recall any cane festivals.

[htmb]

I have to confess I get sweaty palms just thinking about driving over big Mississippi Rive bridges. I still remember the first time I went over the I-10 bridge

[bixaorellana]

Thanks, Mossie! It was really pleasant & fun, although having been to many, many Louisiana festivals, I was rather shocked at the lack of beer at this one.

Thank you, Htmb! In Louisiana there are festivals for absolutely everything. New Iberia has a sugar cane festival too. (probably beer at that one). www.cajunradio.org/louisianafestivals.html Is a cane boil for making molasses? It sounds fun!

Oh gosh ~~ that's a most inconvenient phobia! I knew a man who was effectively trapped on the West Bank in New Orleans because he got physically ill going over the bridge to the other side.

[Deleted]

There is clearly a lot more to a SugarFest than just sugar!

However, I am surprised not to see a manual sugar cane grinding machine. You can see these on just about every street corner in Southeast Asia with people buying fresh sugar cane juice.

I was also wondering if the stores still sell little cut lengths of sugar cane. When I was little, my mother would buy some from time to time at the A&P, and my brother and I would spend at least an hour chewing and sucking on the damned things. It was probably just a trick to get us to shut up.

[mossie]

:-/In my day such things were called gobstoppers, Kerouac.

[bixaorellana]

Kerouac, I never saw one of those machines until I came to Mexico. They're not super common around here, but they exist & you can get cane juice. I can't remember cane sections being sold in Louisiana, despite the fact that I went to university in Lafayette. I do remember stealing cane from fields, as many people believe it's sweeter that way. Maybe they just assumed everyone went & got their own, so didn't bother selling it?

Mossie, you mean anything that shut the little darlings up? I always thought gobstoppers were the same as jawbreakers. No?

Cane is all over the place in Oaxaca right now -- peeled sections in plastic bags for eating, or whole lengths still sporting leaves for making altars for the dead. These two pictures were taken today in the big Abastos market ~

[nycgirl]

This looks like a lot of fun. I would enjoy sampling the treats there.

Alligators are such wicked-looking creatures, aren't they? I don't know what possesses some people to actually want to have one as a pet.

The presence of the slave cabin is sobering, but well worth acknowledging. I've never seen visited slave quarters or anything like that, but I feel like I should one day.

Oct 30, 2012 8:03:04 GMT bixaorellana said:

It was really pleasant & fun, although having been to many, many Louisiana festivals, I was rather shocked at the lack of beer at this one.

My husband would consider that a strike against it. I often drag him to stuff he's not particularly interested in, but the presence of drinks goes a long way in earning his goodwill.

[htmb]

Oct 30, 2012 8:03:04 GMT bixaorellana said:

Is a cane boil for making molasses? It sounds fun!

Basically, yes. A cane boil here involves the pressing out of the juices (grinding really) and boiling to make syrup. I see where there's a local public event later this month to be held at the same park where I photographed the rattlesnake.

The cane syrup I've tasted has been a lighter flavor than a dark, heavy molasses, but I suppose the consistency, flavor, and color are affected by how long the syrup is boiled. It's not something I like very much.

[bixaorellana]

Nov 1, 2012 15:32:02 GMT nycgirl said:

Alligators are such wicked-looking creatures, aren't they? I don't know what possesses some people to actually want to have one as a pet.

The presence of the slave cabin is sobering, but well worth acknowledging. I've never seen visited slave quarters or anything like that, but I feel like I should one day.

I think the baby alligators are sleek and beautiful, but hardly cuddly and certainly programmed to grow into big primeval eating machines.

You are so right about acknowledging even ugly parts of history. We need to always be aware that it wasn't some distant "they" who did those things, it was human beings, just like us.

Nov 2, 2012 19:47:26 GMT htmb said:

A cane boil here involves the pressing out of the juices (grinding really) and boiling to make syrup. I see where there's a local public event later this month to be held at the same park where I photographed the rattlesnake.

The cane syrup I've tasted has been a lighter flavor than a dark, heavy molasses, but I suppose the consistency, flavor, and color are affected by how long the syrup is boiled. It's not something I like very much.

Sounds wonderful! Does a cane boil involve other activities -- making things with the syrup, drinking beer, etc.?

The guys who were boiling syrup at the Sugarfest sort of explained, but not well. However, I found this:

A quick sugar primer: Cane syrup, molasses and brown sugar all start with the juice squeezed from sugar cane stalks. To make sugar, the juice is spun in a centrifuge; pale amber crystals rise to the top, becoming sugar; the brown solids sink to the bottom, becoming molasses.
To make cane syrup, the raw cane juice is boiled to evaporate the liquids and stabilize the sugars; the result is sweeter than molasses, with a rich caramel flavor. source

[htmb]

Bixa, I've been invited to cane boils, but I don't recall ever attending one. We had friends who sent us many bottles of cane syrup over the years. I have always had to think of creative ways to use it, since it's just not something I like all that much. I suspect lots of spirits were involved during our friends' cane boils, but the boil at the local park will be sponsored by the city and, therefore, there will be no alcohol involved.

[htmb]

Nov 1, 2012 15:32:02 GMT nycgirl said:

The presence of the slave cabin is sobering, but well worth acknowledging. I've never seen visited slave quarters or anything like that, but I feel like I should one day.

nycgirl, if you've never been to Jefferson's home at Monticello, I highly recommend it.

[nycgirl]

Nov 5, 2012 14:04:17 GMT htmb said:

nycgirl, if you've never been to Jefferson's home at Monticello, I highly recommend it.

I'd like to one day. I want to drag along my sister, too. She lives in VA, but doesn't have much interest in that sort of thing unless I force her to.

[bixaorellana]

My story about "that sort of thing":

I was living in northern, easternmost NC, right up by the Va. border. My mother-in-law came to visit & we went up to see friends in Norfolk. My plan was to go to Colonial Williamsburg because it would be educational & fun. We were on the highway & seeing signs such as "Colonial Williamsburg, next 5 exits", but the friend from Norfolk kept saying, "Keep going -- I know where it is!"

Finally we passed all the Col.Wmsbrg exits & she directed me where to exit the highway. We wound up in a huge parking lot, with no quaint signs directing us to ye olde ticket boothe or anything of the kind. "This doesn't look right.", I said, "Where are the people in colonial costume?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." replied the Norfolk friend. "This is the biggest outlet mall in all of Virginia! Isn't that where you wanted to go?"

[mossie]

Sounds like your friend had her womanly priorities right Bixa ;D

[nycgirl]

That's so funny. I've been to that outlet mall.

[Deleted]

I believe that you are misusing the word 'friend'.

[htmb]

As well as the phrase "womanly priorities."

[bixaorellana]

Nov 7, 2012 8:18:17 GMT mossie said:

Sounds like your friend had her womanly priorities right Bixa ;D

Mossie, do you own stock in Honda?
click pic

[mossie]

Aha. That is what we would call a "hairdressers car"

[htmb]

My hairdresser is a Portuguese yoga goddess and wouldn't be caught dead in a car that color. ;D ;D ;D

[mossie]

We are not necessarily referring to ladies here ;D

[lugg]

Brilliant photo essay , thank you Bixa. What a fun event and just typical of what I appreciate about AP, allowing me to vicariously enjoy and experience so much.

(I keep trying to de-sensitise myself with the different photos of alligators on here , however, so far I am failing )

[komsomol]

What is in the plastic cups in the foreground of the last cane photo? (very good report!)

[bixaorellana]

Lugg & Komsomol ~~ apologies for the late reply. I went to the US for T'giving, so many things posted from the 18th on were missed by me.

But hey ~~ THANKS for the kind words from you both.

Lugg, they're only prehistoric gnashing, eating machines. How does that bother you? ;D

Komsomol, that's honey in those cups & bottles. How sweet of you to notice.