This weblog is part of looka, <lʊ´-kə> dialect, v. 1. The imperative form of the verb "to look"; in the spoken vernacular of New Orleans, it is usually employed when the speaker wishes to call one's attention to something.   2. --n. Chuck Taggart's weblog, hand-made and updated (almost) daily, focusing on food and drink, cocktails as cuisine, music (especially of the roots variety), New Orleans and Louisiana culture, news of the reality-based community ... and occasionally movies, books, sf, public radio, media and culture, travel, Macs, liberal and progressive politics, humor and amusements, reviews, complaints, the author's life and opinions, witty and/or smart-arsed comments and whatever else tickles the author's fancy. Please feel free to contribute a link if you think I'll find it interesting.   If you don't want to read my opinions, feel free to go elsewhere. Page last tweaked @ 1:20am PDT, 5/1/2009 Looka! RSS feed Comments RSS feed If you like, you are welcome to send e-mail to the author. Your comments on each post are also welcome; however, right-wing trolls are about as welcome as a boil on my arse. Search this site: Enter your search terms Web www.gumbopages.com Submit search form Buy my New Orleans music box set! "Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens: The Big Ol' Box of New Orleans" is a 4-CD box set celebrating the joy and diversity of the New Orleans music scene, from R&B to jazz to funk to Latin to blues to zydeco to klezmer (!) and more, including a full-size, 80-page book. Produced, compiled and annotated by Chuck Taggart (hey, that's me!), liner notes by Mary Herczog (author of Frommer's New Orleans) and myself. Now for sale at your favorite independent record stores (such as the Louisiana Music Factory, because you should be supporting local New Orleans retailers) or via Amazon if you insist. The box set was the subject of a 15-minute profile on National Public Radio's "Weekend Edition" on Feb. 6, 2005, and a segment on Wisconsin Public Radio's "To The Best of Our Knowledge" on Apr. 3, 2005. Here are some nice blurbs from the reviews (a tad immodest, I know; I'm not generally one to toot my own horn, but let's face it, I wanna sell some records here.) *      *      * "More successfully than any previous compilation, Doctors... captures the sprawling eclecticism, freewheeling fun and constant interplay of tradition and innovation that is at the heart of Crescent City music." -- Keith Spera, New Orleans Times-Picayune. "... if you DO know someone who's unfortunate enough to have never heard these cuts, press this monumentally adventurous box and its attendant booklet upon them. It's never too late to learn" -- Robert Fontenot, OffBeat magazine, New Orleans "... the best collection yet of Louisiana music." -- Scott Jordan, The Independent, Lafayette, Louisiana. "[T]he year's single most awesome package" -- Buddy Blue, San Diego Union-Tribune "This four-CD box set doesn't miss a Crescent City beat ... For anyone who has enjoyed the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, this is Jazz Fest in a box. ***1/2" -- Dave Hoekstra, Chicago Sun-Times "... excellently compiled, wonderfully annotated ... New Orleans fans will know much of this by heart, though they may not remember it sounding so good; those who don't know what it's like to miss New Orleans will quickly understand." -- Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press. "... a perfect storm when it comes to reissues. This box set is musically exciting, a complete representation of its subject matter, and just plain fun to listen." -- Charlie B. Dahan, AllAboutJazz.com "... one of the best impressions of a city's musical blueprint that you're likely to ever find." -- Zeth Lundy, PopMatters.com "... an unacademic, uncategorized album that suits the city's time-warped party spirit." -- Jon Pareles, The New York Times How to donate to this site: Your donations help keep this site going. PayPal's the best way -- just click the button below, and thanks! You can also donate via the Amazon.com Honor System, if you wish (but they deduct a larger fee from your donation and I keep less). (Also, here's a shameless link to my Amazon Wish List.) Buy stuff! You can get Gumbo Pages designs on T-shirts, mugs and mousepads at The Gumbo Pages Swag Shop! Looka! Archive (99 and 44/100% link rot) 2009:   Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May. 2008:   Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec. 2007:   Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec. 2006:   Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec. 2005:   Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec. 2004:   Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec. 2003:   Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec. 2002:   Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec. 2001:   Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec. 2000:   Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec. 1999:   Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec.   My Photos on Flickr www.flickr.com My Darlin' New Orleans... Shop New Orleans! Visit the stores linked here to do your virtual online shopping in New Orleans. The city needs your money! Greater N.O. Community Data Center New Orleans Wiki Media: Gambit Weekly NOLA.com & The Times-Picayune OffBeat Scat Magazine WDSU-TV (Channel 6, NBC) WGNO-TV (Channel 26, ABC) WNOL-TV (Channel 38, WB) WTUL-FM (91.5, Progressive radio) WVUE-TV (Channel 8, FOX) WWL-TV (Channel 4, CBS) WWNO-FM (89.9, classical, jazz, NPR) WWOZ-FM (90.7, Best Radio Station in the Universe) WYES-TV (Channel 12, PBS) New Orleans ... proud to blog it home. 2 Millionth Weblog A Frolic of My Own Ashley Morris (in memoriam) Blogging New Orleans Dispatches from Tanganyika Home of the Groove Humid City Library Chronicles Mellytawn Dreams Metroblogging N.O. People Get Ready Da Po'Blog Suspect Device Blog The Third Battle of New Orleans World Class New Orleans The Yat Pundit Your Right Hand Thief Cocktail hour. "We are still heartily of the opinion that decent libation supports as many million lives as it threatens; donates pleasure and sparkle to more lives than it shadows; inspires more brilliance in the world of art, music, letters, and common ordinary intelligent conversation, than it dims." -- Charles H. Baker, Jr. CocktailDB    The Internet's most comprehensive    and indispensible database of    authenticated cocktail recipes,    ingredients, reseearch and more.    By Martin Doudoroff & Ted Haigh) Museum of the American Cocktail    Founded by Dale DeGroff and many    other passionate spirits in Jan. 2005.    Celebrating a true American cultural    icon: the American Cocktail.    (Their weblog.) *     *     * The Sazerac Cocktail    (The sine qua non of cocktails,    and the quintessential New Orleans    cocktail. Learn to make it.) The Footloose Cocktail    (An original by Wes;    "Wonderful!" - Gary Regan.    "Very elegant, supremely    sophisticated" - Daniel Reichert.) The Hoskins Cocktail    (An original by Chuck;    "It's nothing short of a    masterpiece." - Gary Regan) *     *     * Chuck & Wes' Liquor Cabinet    (Frighteningly large, and would    never fit in a cabinet) Chuck & Wes' Cocktail Book Collection    (Constantly growing) Chuck & Wes' Cocktail Menu    (A few things we like to    drink at home, plus a couple    we don't, just for fun.) *     *     * Peychaud's Bitters    (Indispensible for Sazeracs    and many other cocktails.    Order them here.) Angostura Bitters    (The gold standard of bitters,    fortunately available everywhere    worldwide. Insist on it.) Regans' Orange Bitters No. 6    (Complex and spicy orange    bitters for your Martinis,    Old Fashioneds and many more.    Order them here.) Fee Brothers' Bitters    (Classic orange bitters,    peach bitters and a cinnamony    "Old Fashion" aromatic bitters,    plus new lemon & grapefruit bitters!) The Bitter Truth    (A new brand of bitters    from Germany: orange, lemon,    aromatic bitters and more!) Bittermens Bitters    (Fantastic new small-batch    bitters company with forth-    coming products including    Xocolatl Mole Bitters,    grapefruit, "tiki" spice,    and sweet chocolate bitters, wow!) *     *     * The Tiki-licious Luau Spirited Dinner, July 17, 2008    (Eleven dishes of wonder by Chef    Chris DeBarr, with fabulous    tropical cocktails by Jeff "Beachbum"    Berry and Wayne Curtis. Full review    of the 11-dish, 4-course meal, with    photos and recipes for all 5 drinks.) *     *     * Alcademics    (Camper English) Ardent Spirits    (Gary & Mardee Regan) The Art of Drink:    An exploration of Spirits & Mixology.    (Darcy O'Neil) Bar Mix Master    (Brad Ellis, New Orleans) Beachbum Berry:    (Jeff Berry, world-class expert    on tropical drinks) Bunnyhugs    (Seamus Harris, N.Z. & China) Charming Cocktails    (Cheryl Charming) The Cocktail Chronicles    (Paul Clarke's weblog) Cocktailians.com    (Group drinks blog by Vidiot,    Mr. Bali Hai, Kosmonaut,    Chico and me). The Cocktail Circuit    (Joseph Mailander) Cocktail Nerd    (Gabriel Szaszko) A Dash of Bitters    (Michael Dietsch) Dr. Bamboo    (Craig Mrusek, bring art and    alcohol together for a    better tomorrow!) Drink A Week    (Alex and Ed) DrinkBoston.com    (Lauren Clark) DrinkBoy and the    Community for the    Cultured Cocktail    (Robert Hess, et al.) DrinkBoy's Cocktail Weblog Drink Trader    (Online magazine for the    drink trade) Esquire's Drinks Database    (Dave Wondrich and    his forbears) Fine Spirits & Cocktails    (eGullet's forum) Happy Hours    (Beverage industry    news & insider info) Imbibe Magazine    (Celebrating the world in a glass.    All-new site with recipes and back issues!) In the Land of Cocktails    (Ti Adelaide Martin & Lally Brennan,    "The Cocktail Chicks," of Café Adelaide    & Commander's Palace, New Orleans) Jeff Morgenthaler    (Bartender/mixologist, Eugene OR) Jimmy's Cocktail Hour    (Jimmy Patrick) Kaiser Penguin     (Rick Stutz, bringing us cocktails     and great photographs) King Cocktail    (Dale DeGroff) La Fée Verte    (All about absinthe    from Kallisti et al.) LUPEC.org    (Ladies United for the    Preservation of    Endangered Cocktails) The Ministry of Rum    (Everything you always wanted to know) Le Mixeur    (The Munat Bros. host    cocktail gatherings in    Seattle, and write about them    here. I'm jealous that I can't go.) The Mixoloseum    (Cocktail chat online, and    Thursday Drink Night!) The Modern Mixologist    (Tony Abou-Ganim) Mr. Lucky's Cocktails    (Sando, LaDove,    Swanky et al.) Mr. Mixer    (Hundreds of cocktail recipes ...    in Hungarian. Well, why not?    Sajnos, nem beszélek magyarul.) The Munat Bros.    (Seattle-based brothers and    ardent proponents of fine drinking.) Nat Decants    (Natalie MacLean) Off the Presses    (Robert Simonson) Oh, Gosh!    (Jay Hepburn, London) Rowley's Whiskey Forge    (Matt Rowley) RumDood.com    (Matt Robold, The Rum Dood) Save the Drinkers    (Kevin Kelpe, Boise, Idaho!) Sloshed!    (Marleigh) Spirit Journal    (F. Paul Pacult) Spirits and Cocktails    (Jamie Boudreau) Spirits Review    (Chris Carlsson) Tastings.com    (Beverage Tasting    Institute journal) Tiki Drinks & Indigo Firmaments    (Craig Hermann) Trader Tiki's Booze Blog    (Blair Reynolds) Vintage Cocktails    (Daniel Reichert) The Wormwood Society    (Dedicated to promoting accurate,    current information about absinthe) Let's eat! New Orleans: Appetites Culinary Concierge (N.O. food & wine magazine) Mr. Lake's Non-Pompous New Orleans Food Forum The New Orleans Menu Notes from a New Orleans Foodie Food-related weblogs: Bacontarian Chocolate and Zucchini Honest Cuisine Il Forno KIPlog's FOODblog MeatHenge Mise en Place Sauté Wednesday Simmer Stock Tastespotting Tasting Menu Waiter Rant More food! à la carte Chef Talk Café Chowhound (L.A.) eGullet Epicurious Food Network The Global Gourmet The Hungry Passport site and weblog) A Muse for Cooks The Online Chef Practically Edible Pasta, Risotto & You Slow Food Int'l. Movement Southern Food & Beverages Museum Southern Foodways Alliance So. Calif. Farmer's Markets Zagat Guide &c. In vino veritas. The Oxford Companion to Wine Wine Enthsiast The Wine Spectator Wine Today Wines.com Zinfandel Advocates & Producers Wine/spirits shops in our 'hood: Colorado Wine Co., Eagle Rock Mission Liquors, Pasadena Silverlake Wine, Silverlake Chronicle Wine Cellar, Pasadena Other wine/spirits shops we visit: Beverage Warehouse, Mar Vista Wally's Wine & Spirits, Westwood The Wine House, West L.A. Reading this month: Lisey's Story, by Stephen King. The Ghost Brigades, by John Scalzi. In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan. Listen to music! Chuck's current album recommendations Altan BeauSoleil Beck Luka Bloom La Bottine Souriante Billy Bragg Cordelia's Dad Jay Farrar The Frames Kíla Sonny Landreth Los Lobos Christy Moore Nickel Creek OK Go The Old 97s Anders Osborne Planxty The Proclaimers Professor Longhair Red Meat The Red Stick Ramblers The Reivers Zachary Richard Paul Sanchez Marc Savoy Son Volt Richard Thompson Toasted Heretic Uncle Tupelo Wilco Tom Morgan's Jazz Roots Miles of Music New Orleans Bands.net New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival No Depression RootsWorld Appalachian String Band Music Festival - Clifftop, WV Long Beach Bayou Festival Strawberry Music Festival - Yosemite, CA Talking furniture: WWOZ (New Orleans)    Broadcast schedule    Live audio stream Bob Walker's New Orleans Radio Shrine    (A rich history of N.O. radio) PublicRadioFan.com    (Comprehensive listings) Air America Radio    (Talk radio for the    rest of us) Folkscene Joe Frank Grateful Dead Radio    (Streaming complete    shows!) KPIG, 107 Oink 5    (Freedom, CA) KRVS Radio Acadie    (Lafayette, LA) LouisianaRadio.com Mike Hodel's "Hour 25"    (Science fiction radio) Raidió Idirlíon    (Irish language & music) Raidió na Gaeltachta    (Irish language) RootsWorld's Rootsradio RTÉ Radio Ceolnet    (Irish trad. music) WXDU (Durham, NC) Films seen this year: (with ratings): In the cinema: Frost/Nixon (****) On DVD: Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Director's Cut (****) Hellraiser: Bloodline (**) Serenity (*****) Third Man Out (***) DVDfile.com DVDtalk.com Lookin' at da TV: "Lost" "Battlestar Galactica" "ER" "Smallville" "One Tree Hill" "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" "The Simpsons" "Top Chef" "Father Ted" Photography: A Gallery for Fine Photography, New Orleans (Joshua Mann Pailet) American Museum of Photography California Museum of Photography, Riverside International Center of Photography Ansel Adams Jonathan Fish Noah Grey Greg Guirard Paul F. R. Hamilton Clarence John Laughlin Herman Leonard Howard Roffman J. T. Seaton Jerry Uelsmann Gareth Watkins Brett Weston The Mirror Project (My pics therein: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.) My photographs at Flickr Comix: The Abominable Charles Christopher by Karl Kerschl The Amazing Adventures of Bill, by Bill Roundy Bloom County / Outland / Opus, by Berkeley Breathed Bob the Angry Flower, by Stephen Notley The Boondocks, by Aaron McGruder Calvin and Hobbes, by Bill Watterson Doonesbury, by Garry B. Trudeau Electric Sheep Comix by Patrick Farley Get Your War On by David Rees Goats by Jonathan Rosenberg L. A. Cucaracha by Lalo Alcaraz Leviathan, by Peter Blegvad Lil' Abner, by Al Capp Lulu Eightball, by Emily Flake The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green, by Eric Orner Pogo, by Walt Kelly Suspect Device, by Greg Peters Ted Rall, by Ted Rall This Modern World, by Tom Tomorrow XQUZYPHYR & Overboard, by August J. Pollak Must-reads: Polly Ticks: AlterNet.org (Progressive politics & news) Daily Kos (My favorite political weblog) Eschaton (The Mighty Atrios) Hullaballoo (The Mighty Digby) Media Matters for America (Debunking right-wing media lies) Orcinus (David Neiwert) PostSecret (Secrets sent in via postcards; astonishingly beautiful, funny and sad.) Talking Points Memo (Josh Marshall) TAPPED (The American Prospect Online) Think Progress TruthOut (William Rivers Pitt & Co.) Miscellany:: Borowitz Report (Political satire) The Complete Bushisms (quotationable!) The Fray (Your stories) Landover Baptist (Better Christians than YOU!) Maledicta (The International Journal of Verbal Aggression) The Morning Fix from SF Gate (Opinions, extreme irreverence) The New York Review of Science Fiction The Onion (Scarily funny news/satire) "Rush, Newspeak and Fascism: An exegesis", by David Neiwert. (Read this.) Whitehouse.org (Not the actual White House, but it should be) Weblogs I read: Alicublog AmericaBlog American Leftist BoingBoing The BradLands Cardhouse The Carpetbagger Report Cheesedip Crabwalk Franklin Avenue Ghost in the Machine Hit or Miss Jesus' General kottke.org Making Light Neil Gaiman's Journal Not Right About Anything NowThis.com Pandagon August J. Pollak Sadly, No! telescreen.org This Modern World Your Right Hand Thief L.A. Blogs Friends with pages: bill chris dule ellen jon jordan mary mary & rick mary katherine michael p. nancy peter robb sean steve ted The Final Frontier: Astronomy Pic of the Day ISS Alpha News NASA Human Spaceflight Spaceflight Now SF: Locus Magazine Online SF Site SFWA Déanta:  This page is coded by hand, with BBEdit 4.0.1 on an Apple iMac 24" and a G4 15" PowerBook running MacOS X 10.5 if I'm at home; occasionally with telnet and Pico on a FreeBSD Unix host running tcsh if I'm updating from work. (I never could get used to all those weblogging tools.)  "Eating, drinking and carrying on..."  -- Adelaide Brennan   Friday, May 1, 2009 ANNOUNCEMENT! Mixology Monday XXXIX: Amaro.   Happy Mayday, y'all. (Whistle "The Internationale" if you're of a mind to.) Another month, another Mixology Monday is rapidly approaching. Mixology Monday is a monthly online cocktail party that unites cocktail enthusiasts from around the globe. Once a month, on a Monday, we ponder a topic or theme, and either create new cocktails or find historic ones that fit in with that theme. Everything from bursts of creativity to unearthing near-forgotten cocktails to old favorites are welcome. It's my honor to be hosting MxMo for the month of May, finally getting my lazy keister in gear and offering to do so after 39 months. I'm hoping the topic will be worth the wait, as it's one near and dear to my heart. The topic for this month is Amaro, which refers to the bitter liqueurs usually drunk as an after-meal digestive, either alone (neat or on the rocks) or in some kind of mixed drink or cocktail. They tend to all share certain characteristics -- drinking bitters are generally made of alcohol with any number of herbs, plus sugar and some kind of coloring. The word "amaro" means bitter in Italian, and although the more famous drinking bitters tend to come from Italy our amaro theme this month is most certainly not limited to that country. Amaro, amer, amargo, what have you. Italy, Spain, France, America, Serbia, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland ... wherever somebody drinks a bitter liqueur, that's a source for your drink this month. My own journey to being an amaro geek took many years. About 9 years ago I first read about Fernet Branca in an article on epinions.com, back when I was writing reviews for them. I wasn't familiar with it, but the writer referred to it as "the medicine cabinet in my bar." His Italian grandmother had turned him on to the beneficial effects of Fernet after a large meal, particularly an overindulgent one. Her method of serving it was "calda lunga" -- four parts hot water to one part Fernet, with a tablespoon of honey. I was fascinated by this, and picked up a bottle on my next trip to the liquor store. I opened the bottle after my next indulgent meal, and instead of the calda lunga I tried it in the most traditional style, semplice -- by itself in a chilled glass, with a bit of ice. The flavor was ... well, fairly horrid, I thought at the time. Extremely medicinal. But ... I felt better within about five minutes. Truly amazing stuff, and a testament to the power of herbal medicine. For years I only used Fernet for medicinal purposes, quite literally, but over time began to appreciate the flavor a little bit more. I tried other amaros that I really liked, especially Averna, and eventually got to the point where I drink Fernet Branca for pleasure. Along the road I started picking up more and more amaro, and now I can't get enough of it. Wherever it's from, I want it. I want to sip it alone and I want to use it in cocktails, and since I don't recall our having this particular topic in MxMo so far, I thought it was about time! Now, what to do? You could use something gentle, like the lovely Amaro Montenegro, or something in-your-face, like the aforementioned Fernet. You could go insane, like a few intrepid Chicago bartenders have done, and actually make cocktails with Jeppson Malört, which is the most mind-bogglingly, unrelentingly bitter liqueur ever. Or you could find something relatively rare, like a pelinkovac from Serbia or Croatia. Just remember we're talking about a bitter liqueur you drink from a glass, not an aromatic bitters you add by the dash. Oh, and one more thing ... while technically Jägermeister is a digestive bitter liqueur and is perfectly legitimate for your post-prandial sipping, it's been done to death by frat boys nationwide. Unless your Jäger cocktail is destined to be a modern classic, I'd recommend skipping that one (if for no other reason that someone will undoubtedly taunt you for it). Or you could say, "In your face, Taggart!" and do a brilliant Jägermeister cocktail that blows everyone away. The world of bitters is your canvas. Here's what to do: 1. By Monday, May 18, either find or create a cocktail containing amaro or some kind of drinking bitters from any country. 2. Write a post about it on your own site (or on The Spirits and Cocktails Forum on egullet.com if you don't have a site of your own) on Monday the 18th, then leave a comment with a link to your post either here or on the main post I'll do on the 18th. (They'll have the same comment link.) For safety, email the link to me as well, to mr.sazerac (at) gmail (dot) com. Link back to me and to the main Mixology Monday site, and please include the MxMo logo as well. I'm really looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with this time. Viva amaro! Permalink for the announcement post: http://looka.gumbopages.com/mixologymonday/xxxix-amaro/announcement/ Return to Looka! main page.

 
 

Several of my friends and loved ones (and a few kind strangers) contribute regularly to this weblog, providing links, comments and sometimes lots more. Thanks to Wesly Moore, Mike Luquet, Mary Herczog, Steve Hochman, Dave Schmerler, Nettie DeAugustine, Diana Schwam, Andy Senasac, Michael Yasui, Steve Gardner, Michael Pemberton, Steve Kelley, Barry Kelley, Eric Labow, Tom Krueger, Greg Beron, Sean Burke, Shari Minton and Barry Enderwick.

 
 
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This means that you may not copy my writing onto other web pages or anywhere else without my specific written permission. (Quotes of short passages, properly attributed, may be considered fair use.) If you do copy my work and pass it off as your own, it's called "stealing" and "plagiarism". People who steal my stuff will be étoufféed and served to Dr. Lecter, with a nice Chianti. (I'm serious. Just don't do it. Thanks.)