Reader Anna Kita was the first of many to send me this food funny. It's a bit longer than I like, but well worth the space.
One day a cat dies of natural causes and goes to heaven. Greeting him
the Lord says, "You've lived a good life. If there is any way I can
make your stay in Heaven more comfortable, please let Me know." The
cat thinks for a minute and says "Well, all my life I lived with a
poor family and had to sleep on a hard wooden floor..." The Lord
stops the cat and says "Say no more!" Just then a wonderful fluffy
pillow appears and the cat contentedly wanders off to find a good
place to nap.
A few days later six mice killed in a tragic farming accident go to
heaven. The Lord is there to greet them with the same offer. The
mice answer: "All of our lives we've been chased. We've had to run
from cats, from tractors, even from that farmer's wife with her broom.
We're tired of running..." "Say no more!" The Lord replies. In a
flash, each mouse is fitted with a beautiful new pair of roller
skates, and they skate happily off to explore the Heavenly landscape.
About a week later The Lord stops by to see the cat and finds him
snoozing away. He gently wakes the cat and asks, "How are things
since you got here?" The cat stretches, yawns, and replies "Oh, it is
wonderful here. I get a lot of great sleep on this pillow, and those
Meals On Wheels you've been sending are the BEST!!!"
If you were hoping for another food and language conundrum, I'm
afraid I'm going to have to disappoint you today. "Etouffer" is, quite
simply, "to smother" or "to suffocate" in French, and "etouffee" is
the past participle, meaning "smothered." (Actually, there are
supposed to be a couple of accents over the e's, but many email
readers can't handle them.) The crawfish are smothered in a rich
sauce. No mystery there.
Although they are farmed commercially now, crawfish are still
difficult to obtain over most of the US, and presumably the rest of
the world as well. You can substitute fresh shrimp for the crawfish
with very good results. This dish is traditionally served with white
rice, but on my recent expedition to Cajun country I ran across
several restaurants that served it with fettuccine.
Crawfish Etouffee
8 Tbs (120 ml, 100 g) butter
1/2 cup (125 ml) all-purpose flour
1 cup (250 ml) chopped onion
1 cup (250 ml) chopped green bell pepper
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