Louisiana in London

This evening we attended an extraordinary event hosted by JRNY magazine and sponsored by Louisiana tourist authorities.  It was held at Americana in London, and consisted of an evening of food, drink and music all inspired by Louisiana.  The intention was to encourage interest in visiting Louisiana and was attended by travel agents and travel journalists as well as JRNY readers. The sales pitch was reasonably brief, but the Louisiana representatives did come round and chat to people - very friendly and not at all pushy.

It was an incredibly generous event, with no charge to attendees.  There were welcome glasses of Pimms accompanied by light bites, with endless wine, beer and cocktails available to accompany the meal.  The sit down menu was:
Chicken and prawn gumbo with white rice
Blackened fish with Brabant potatoes with fried rosemary and garlic butter
Cajun coffee lamb chump with corn marque choux
Crawfish and grits with scallions and red chillies
Buttermilk fried chicken with chilli and pineapple jam
Mixed bean and collard etouffee with Cajun spiced dirty rice
Glazed brisket burnt ends
Flame-roasted garlic corn cobs
Red and white slaw
Loaded fries

followed by
Bread pudding with hot butter rum sauce
Pecan pie with cream Chantilly
Chilli and chocolatedipped strawberries.

Entertainment was provided by the Louisiana-style jazz band.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and certainly sparked my interest in returning to Louisiana (some 36 years after my last visit!).