What is Fat Tuesday and why is it celebrated? It’s known as Fat Tuesday because it’s the last day that many people eat meat and fatty foods before Lent begins. Mardi Gras season in New Orleans is a time of merry-making and festivity. Fat Tuesday is also the last day of Carnival. Mardi Gras (French for Fat Tuesday) dates back to an ancient Roman festival. When Christians arrived in Rome, they incorporated the festival into Lenten preparations. While today, Catholics commonly abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent, in the past, Lenten fasting was far stricter. Historically, people would spend Fat Tuesday (and sometimes the weeks leading up to it) indulging in the foods and beverages they would abstain from during Lent. Traditions surrounding the day have changed through the ages.
Carnival And Mardi Gras
The holiday of Mardi Gras is celebrated around the country, but no place celebrates it like New Orleans. Although the season begins on King’s Day, celebrations are concentrated for about two weeks before and through Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. New Orleans holds the crown for Carnival and Mardi Gras celebrations in the United States. However, a number of cities and regions in the U.S. have notable Mardi Gras or Carnival celebrations. Most of these places trace their Mardi Gras celebrations to French, Spanish, and other Catholic colonial influences on the settlements over their history.
Carnival And Fat Tuesday Are All About Food And Drinks
Mardi Gras is just one of many varied and memorable celebrations happening around the world on the day before Lent, including pancake races in Buckinghamshire, England; orange-throwing wars in Binche, Belgium; and the boisterous Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.
The traditional Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, sweet is the King cake, covered in icing and decorated, commonly, with purple, green, and gold sugars. You won’t find more decadent cuisine than these West African, French, and Spanish-inspired dishes and these Mardi Gras recipes prove that Fat Tuesday food is the best. Authentic New Orleanian recipes enjoy the taste of the Big Easy with Cajun Maque Choux Macaroni Salad, Creole Jambalaya, Mardi Gras Puppy Chow, Hot Pepperoni Muffaletta Dip, and Authentic Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo. Popular drinks include the Sazerac made with absinthe, the citrus cocktail Arnaud’s special, or Vieux Cari made with whiskey, cognac, and sweet vermouth. And do not forget the Hurricanes, they are New Orleans’ most famous cocktail and a favorite of partygoers celebrating Mardi Gras. Fat Tuesday has plenty of beverages and food to try.
Mardi Gras Parades
While there are Mardi Gras Parades all over the country and even locally at Mainstrasse, ‘the’ Mardi Gras Parade really happens each year in New Orleans, Louisiana. The first Mardi Gras parade was held in New Orleans on February 24, 1857, by the Krewe of Comus. They began the tradition of presenting a parade with floats and following it with a ball for the krewe and their guests. Krewes is the term for the New Orleans clubs that organize the Mardi Gras festivities.
Masks and costumes have been associated with Fat Tuesday celebrations for centuries. And even today the masks commonly seen in New Orleans on Mardi Gras are the same type popularized by the two-to-three-week-long Carnivale in Venice that culminates with Fat Tuesday. But masking and costume-wearing in New Orleans also has a specifically American history, as it was another way for revelers who were officially excluded from the festivities to join in, by concealing their identities. In the early day of Carnival, the masks allowed classes to mingle without fear of tarnishing their reputation.
What are parade “throws?” Well, they are exactly what they sound like – items that krewe members on floats throw to parade-goers as the floats pass by! Throws often include doubloons, beads, cups, homemade trinkets, toys, and more! REX, a New Orleans Carnival Krewe, started using medallions instead of trinkets. These medallions are represented by today’s doubloons, aluminum and anodized in many different colors. They depict the parade theme on one side and krewe’s emblem on the other. Several of the social clubs of New Orleans that have floats in the parade have special throws which have become collector’s items.
Fat Tuesday and Mardi Gras are about music, parades, picnics, floats, food, and excitement. It’s time to have a party and some fun!
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About Route 17 Express
About Route 17 ExpressRoute 17 Express is a hometown general store and restaurant. We offer Charlie Biggs Chicken, Hunt Brothers Pizza, Deli, Hot n Serve Meals, Marathon Gas, Firewood, Straw, and Much More!
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