Quiz: Historical New Orleans

New Orleans is the town of jazz, Cajun food, Mardi Gras, French Quarter, historic plantations, old buildings, specific traditions, and an incredible blend of nations.

This town never sleeps. You will find, even now, jazz players on Preservation Hall or improvising on the streets of the French Quarter. You will also hear blues, Scots-Irish fiddlers' tunes, old Louisiana Creole dance tunes, and spirituals.

Starting before the Civil War, blacks earned a great reputation for their artistry as musicians, poets, and workmanship in fields of iron grillework and carpentry. New Orleans is a unique place in a country where the black contribution to local culture is clearly rich and distinct.

You may have visited the wonder of this fascinating town. If so, take and enjoy the quiz I have created for you.

In the picture, you see a portion of La Branche building at 700 Royal Street, French Quarter, with its grandiose cast-iron balconies.

You find cast-iron in galleries and terraces all over the French Quarter, where the French and Spanish colonial refinement are the most evident.

More details in next picture

During Mardi Gras the city explodes with colorful festivities in a Carnival celebration.

For two weeks, you would enjoy parades, masquerade balls, and king cake parties.

The celebration of Mardi Gras was brought to Louisiana by the early French settlers. The first record of the holiday celebrated on March 3, 1699, in Louisiana, was at the mouth of the Mississippi River in what is now lower Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana.

The starting date of festivities in New Orleans is unknown. The first written document was from 1743 which said that the custom of Carnival balls was already established. Processions and wearing of masks in the streets on Mardi Gras took place.

In 1875, Louisiana declared Mardi Gras a legal state holiday. Some cancellation occured, especially during the American Civil War and World War I and II, but the city has always celebrated Carnival.

The traditional colors of Mardi Gras are

• purple (justice)
• green (faith), and
• gold (power)

For far over 100 years, the natives purchased the ingredients for Cajun and Creole recipes on French Market, a delightful place along the Mississippi River, and rested after shopping on the park... (see the big picture)

I consider the cuisine of New Orleans the most exciting and intriguing in the country:

• The Cajun dishes basically reflect a fairly hot country style of cooking
• The Creole recipes for sauces are spicier. They include: crawfish etoufee and shrimp etoufee, jambolaya, raw oysters, and trout covered in meuniere sauce.

"When the Saints go Marchin in..."

The coolest trumpets ever... they feel the music... and make us feel as well...

"The Man I love "

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