HPR

Mardi Gras and the True Cajun Spirit

By Micheal Ramirez
Contributing Writer

Laissez les bon temps rouler, literally means let the good times roll. Nowhere in the Fargo-Moorhead area has the spirit of Mardi Gras and the flavor of cajun cooking been so right than at the Cajun Cafe, where I recently had a fantastic late lunch with my wife. We had been there before with friends and family, but there was so much on the menu to choose from that we just had to go back and try more dishes. Our server, Bobbi, was very helpful and knowledgeable about the day’s specials, and the service was fast and friendly.

After looking over the menu for a bit we decided on a few appetizers to start: frogs legs and boudin balls. Boudin is a combination of ground pork, rice and spices, usually stuffed in a sausage casing. That’s not the case here. This mixture is rolled into balls, breaded and deep fried to a golden crisp, the result is tasty to say the least. They are served with a cane syrup as a dipping sauce, which provides a sweet compliment to the boudin’s spice. The frog legs were crispy without being overdone, which is easy to do.

We both ordered a 6 oz top sirloin steak (bronzed, not sure exactly what that entails, but I likened it to a light blackening as the steak was lightly dusted with cajun spices), for sides we got a side salad, a Mardi Gras pasta salad, moux choux and red beans and rice respectively, when they arrived the side salads were crisp and loaded with veggies. We each also got a side of ranch and a crawfish dressing I had never seen before. Boy was I in for a surprise. It’s difficult to find the words to describe it, but here it goes: it was a cross between a tangy russian dressing, but with a horseradish bite to it, flavorful, but the big surprise was the big chunks of real crawfish tails in the dressing.

Next, the Mardi Gras salad was surprisingly light pasta shells tossed in a slightly sweet dressing loaded with crisp veggies, onions, peppers and celery. The corn moux choux was buttery with a bit of spice to it (moux choux is a corn dish made with sweet corn, onions peppers and spices).

And finally the red beans and rice was so good, you can get it as a side or for the big appetites as an entree. Our steaks were done perfectly (medium and medium rare) with a remoulade sauce for dipping (remoulade is a spicy mayonnaise) while the steak was flavorful and tender, the remoulade truly made the dish, its flavor and richness tied the dish together and complimented the steak really well.

After such a wonderful meal, I was almost to the point of being stuffed (I said almost, haha). Bobbi suggested we finish off our meal with a dessert, but looking at the menu and seeing so many choices, we decided on keeping dessert simple so we ordered beignets. Beignets are light, fluffy cajun-style doughnuts dusted with powdered sugar, there are four of these tasty treats to an order, so there were plenty for us to share or fight over.

I highly recommend dining at this little slice of Louisiana. You wont be disappointed. Owners Gary and Mary Gilbertson travel the back roads of Louisiana finding little, out-of-the-way dinner shacks and restaurants, trying out local specialties and old favorites finding the best, getting those recipes and bringing those back to the F-M area all in the name of keeping the food as authentic as possible, and believe me, it’s authentic and oh so good. If you get a chance and the spirit of old Mardi Gras moves you, go down to the Cajun Cafe and laissez les bon temps rouler!

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