no greater muse than gumbo

I am at odds currently. In the past I have eaten in some of the "best restaurants", not only in the United States, but in the world (Paris, Berlin, Lyon, etc. etc. etc.) but I have rarely lived anywhere that I was seriously concerned with my weight simply because I can't seem to get enough of the local genre of food. I absolutely love cajun food and the local food of New Orleans in general.
My first experience with Cajun food was as a child. I loved the interplay of spices and textures. If I were to map out the overlay and structure of the various tastes that impermeate my senses, I believe that it would create the greatest piece of architecture on the earth. There is no greater muse than gumbo.
Not only is new orleanian (is that the correct term?) food absolutely delicious, but it is extremely fun to make. I have never been much of a cook, due in part I'm sure to the fact that I absolutely hate constraints and recipes seem too constrained. However, I don't mean to brag (or maybe I do?), but I whip up a mean mess o' red beans and rice. I believe this is in part due to the fact that cajun cooking is not based on a system of recipes, but rather what tastes right. You stick the Cajun Trinity (onions, bell peppers, and celery) in a dish, mix it with some choice spices and just add stuff based on what you think it needs. I actually have found my own secret ingredient (hint: it makes you feel really good sometimes....) which counteracts some of the digestive negativity that the high dosages of spiciness may produce.
The restaurants here are simply outstanding. My parents visited me a week ago and took me to some places which I couldn't go to normally (due to my status as a "poor college kid"). Emerils was naturally amazing, but dissapointing in terms of the entree. The appetizer (boudin balls) was quite possibly among the top five most delicious things I've ever eaten (also listed there would be my dad's barbeque, my mom's spaghetti, Lucie's capenter/dehahn, and the traditional parisian croque monsieur). By far the most interesting and succulent place to eat is the Court of Two Sisters. When I think of the term buffet, immediately my mind races to a memory I had when I was little of a small boy, elbow deep in the jello dish at a Golden Corral, trying desperately, and messily, to fish out some small prize in the bottom of the dish. The buffet at the Court of Two Sisters is a different experience all together. I had four huge platefuls simply because everything looked so good and I wanted to indulge in everything. Fresh boiled crawfish, huge plates of jumbalaya, cajun omelettes, and shrimp pasta comprised most of my brunch dining experience. My "triathlon mind" was yelling at me to stop eating, but the part of my brain that controlled my pleasures was cooing in delight. I'm not even going to touch mention in detail Beignets... It will only make me hungry...
I dread the scale now. Perhaps I'll just drown my sorrows in pralines.