EAT ME

Cajun Seasoning

A few weeks ago I heard a song called “Yella Alligator” on one of Alberta public radio’s two weekend blues shows. The slide guitar intro reminded me of Mick Jagger’s 1970 “Memo from Turner” before taking off with the singer celebrating rural life, getting high on the bayou and playing blues and soul music for the gators swimming in the gumbo. Sounded like a fine way to live to someone not born on Blue Bayou and without a shred of musical ability. I was hooked and I loved the artist’s handle: Eddie 9V.

I started thinking about food. I knew there was a ring of andouille sausage in the freezer. Ann and I buy it at a place called Old Country Meat and Deli. The small, utilitarian shop is in a nearby neighbourhood called Pleasantview which is notable mainly for its large cemetery whose occupants cannot testify to the community’s presumptive moniker from their holes in the cold, cold ground. When Ann is in a particularly fine mood she moves around The Crooked 9 in rhythm, singing a song. Son of a gun, one of her favourites is Hank Williams’s “Jambalaya,” one of my favourites – that goes both ways. Beer Revolution, a joint downtown, is in the Tuesday Night Beer Club’s regular rotation because Stats Guy knows I’m fond of its gumbo.

Whyte Avenue is Edmonton’s most famous street. Its cash registers tend to ring after business hours now. Like any nightlife strip it looks a little tired and shabby in the sunlight. Post-pandemic FOR LEASE signs suggest it’s down on its luck. Down on its luck in the way Warren Zevon grunts the phrase in “Lawyers, Guns and Money.” Not much on the trendy strip appeals to my wallet these days; the book stores and the newsstand are gone. Blackbyrd Myzoozik, whose spelling makes me half crazy, and Dadeo, a licensed Cajun diner, are two of three notable exceptions (the other being the Commercial Hotel, home of Blues on Whyte, although Ann and I don’t hang around much anymore).

I telephoned Blackbyrd about ten days ago asking the shop to order a copy of Eddie 9V’s Capricorn album for me: “Like the battery.” 

“I know. Should take a week or so.”

I also requested Blackbyrd to hold a copy of Fragments, the latest instalment in Dylan’s Bootleg Series, for me too. Fragments revisits the Time Out of Mind sessions, the album that heralded the onset of Dylan’s late career renaissance. The new set is sort of Soviet, history remixed, erasing the contributions of original producer Daniel Lanois. Twenty-five years on, I can think of no better song to sum up ageing in these most peculiar times than “Not Dark Yet” and so, yes, I need two more versions because it’s getting there. The twilight’s evident on Whyte Avenue.

After I hung up, I said to Ann: “After we pick them up I’ll buy you lunch at Dadeo, gumbo and a po’boy.”

Last Thursday sometime between breakfast and lunch Ann was rummaging through our kitchen, evaluating the inventories in our pantry, fridge and freezer against the digital grocery flyer specials displayed on her iPhone. A household’s like a retailer, stock must be rotated and replenished. Ann asked me what I thought I might like for dinner that night. I hadn’t forgotten about the andouille sausage.

“Jambalaya?” My voice, like, upturned a Frank Zappa “Valley Girl” octave.

Ann agreed. Ann assembled the ingredients and began the pre-prep for our supper. The phone rang. I answered it. Blackbyrd on the line. I said, “Wonderful! Brilliant! See you tomorrow." Ann wanted to know who’d just called. I said, “Do you suppose Cajuns get tired of Cajun food?” 

meGeoff has been your most unreliable, unbalanced and inaccurate alternative source of moodie food since 2013. The novella Of Course You Did is my latest book. Visit www.megeoff.com for links to purchase it in your preferred format from various retailers.