Watching KVille

Yes, I just made that word up. I just like putting the -ista suffix on anything that people take too seriously. And I can call “foodies” out, as I am a bit of one myself. But onto the real point of this post…

I guess that just the mention and brief appearance of gumbo has spawned Monday Night Gumbo parties in N’awlins. Sorry, do they say N’Awlins anymore? Is it NOLA? I know it is not K-Ville. One of the major complaints about the show from New Orleans locals is that no one calls it K-Ville. If I live there, I would call it the town that FEMA forgot.

On a side note: In Oregon, we had some pretty bad flooding about a week and a half, two weeks ago (December 3, 2007), and FEMA finally showed up yesterday (December 19). Yeah, the US government — we pay taxes, and it all goes to Halliburton, KBR, DynCorp, Blackwater, Titan, CACI, Parsons…don’t believe me — look it up.

Anyhoo, the Times-Picayune has mentioned the K-Ville Cookbook before, and I said I would follow up on that topic. The “unofficial” K-Ville Cookbook was a gift to cast and crew when the filming on K-Ville wrapped in November.

Script supervisor Jillian Amburgey had already been collecting recipes from local crew members. She’d assembled them into a neat booklet with script excerpts that tied the recipes into specific food references in episodes. She’d also done biographical profiles of some of the contributors, including their storm stories. A couple of the recipes were scanned copies apparently rendered in a grandmother’s handwriting.

There’d been some talk of publishing the cookbook as a charity fundraiser, but when sudden news of the shutdown came, Anderson and co-star Cole Hauser paid to have copies of the booklet quickly printed up for distribution to everybody in the “K-Ville” production family.

It’s not an official “wrap” gift because “K-Ville” hasn’t officially wrapped. (-NOLA.com)

Aw, Anthony and Cole must be the nicest guys to work with. I think that this book would sell, and it may help out those on the production side that are out of work. Just an idea…Although, I did read on another blog (thehullabaloo.com) that the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 478

requires its members to continue working through the strike. The 550 members of the union include set painters, wardrobe workers, grips and other crew positions.

So maybe those guys are working on something. It says “stage” crew, so maybe those burlesque shows could use some gaffers.

K-Ville, gumbo, parties, New Orleans, FEMA, Oregon, flood, Halliburton, KBR, DynCorp, Blackwater, Titan, CACI, Parsons, Times-Picayune, K-Ville Cookbook, charity, fundraiser, Anthony Anderson, Cole Hauser, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees

It’s pronounced boo-yah-base. Emphasis on the first syllable, and a light emphasis on the last.

This recipe for that special dinner that Boulet made in the “Melissa” episode. It’s from “The K-Ville Cookbook” and yes, I am going to figure out if this is an official book or just something the prop department has made up for their own use.

Bouillabaisse is a traditional French seafood stew, and has traveled the world picking up different variations in different countries and regions. Bouillabaisse obviously found its way to New Orleans.

Although, here is a little factoid to impress your bouillabaisse dinner guests…It was originally the Greeks that settled the Marseille area that created the first bouillabaisse. In Roman Mythology, Venus fed Vulcan bouillabaisse to put him to sleep so she could commit adultery with his brother, Mars. She’s such a slut.

This recipe is what the Prop Master, Mike Blaze, made for the November 19th episode. The Script Supervisor Jillian Amburgey told the Times Picayune that Anthony Anderson took “three bowls back to his trailer” after they finished shooting.

This recipe appears in the Times Picayune on November 29. Thanks to Judy Walker.

Boulet’s Bouillabaisse
Makes 8 servings
4 cleaned red snapper (each about 1 1/2 pounds)
2 pounds (31-35 count) head-on shrimp
2 pounds live crawfish
12 fresh cleaned crabs
1 cup olive oil
2 cups diced onion
2 cups diced celery
1 cup diced red bell peppers
4 whole tomatoes, sliced
3/4 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup minced garlic
4 bay leaves
3 medium carrots, diced
3 quarts shellfish stock
2 cups dry white wine
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 cup sliced green onions
1 cup chopped parsley
Salt and cayenne pepper to taste

Pour olive oil into a 2-gallon
stockpot. In the pot, layer on´
ion, celery, bell peppers, to´
mato, tomato sauce, garlic, bay
leaves and carrots. On top of
vegetables, layer whole snap´
per, shrimp, crawfish and crabs.
Do not stir.

Cover pot and steam over
medium-high heat for 3 to 5
minutes. Add shellfish stock,
white wine, thyme and basil.
Bring to a low simmer, about
190 degrees, just below boiling
point. Cook 30 minutes, then re´
move from heat. Strain all sea´
food and vegetables. Discard
vegetables and retain stock.

Peel shrimp, crawfish and
crabs, then bone fish. Bring
stock back to low boil. Add sea´
food, reduce to a simmer, then
stir in green onions and parsley.
Season to taste with salt and
cayenne.

Serve by placing a generous
amount of seafood in the center
of a soup bowl and ladling on
hot soup.

Most bouillabaisse incorporates mussels instead of crawfish, but crawfish practically scream NOLA. Notice the leaf in the picture for reference. Crawfish are maybe three or four inches long.

But if you can’t find crawfish (also known as crawdaddys, crawdads, crayfish, they look like little lobsters, and can also be called spiny lobsters), try the Louisiana Crawfish Company or simply substitute mussels.

Serve with bread and olive oil. You will want to sop up the every bit of the liquid when the seafood is gone.

Anthony Anderson, New Orleans, K-Ville, bouillabaisse, Marseille, French cuisine, crawfish, spiny lobster, seafood, Louisiana, Roman Mythology, Venus, Vulcan, Mars, cookbook

Okay, so far, after what, five episodes, I think that KVille needs a drinking game. I mean Boulet drinks on the job, so why can’t I?

And that’s another thing, I don’t really see Marlin as a drinker on the job. That was kind of a weird moment in the pilot, and since I haven’t seen that issue come up again, maybe the KVille powers that be have decided to scrap that odd quirk/flaw in the Boulet character. Especially after finding out that Marlin’s brother, what’s his name, Trey, (or I am thinking of The OC again), maybe Troy, had addiction issues. But we’ll see if it comes up again. Back to the KVille Drinking Game.

Besides the obvious reference to the debauchery of Mardi Gras and how that seems to be what most people think of when they think of N’Awlins, KVille has some events/lines/references that SCREAM out for a drinking game.

1. When Katrina or “the storm” is mentioned, that’s a drink.

2. Flashback to “the Storm”, that’s a drink.

3. Car chase…you better believe that’s a drink.

4. New Orleans Stereotype…drink! (this includes names, foods, bad accents — so depending on the episode, you might get wasted.)

5. Boulet gets inappropriately angry or indignant, that’s a drink.

6. Cobb checks out a lady…drink!

Even this kid likes the idea of a Kville Drinking Game

So I have only come up with six rules, but I will be returning to this subject in the future. I created a whole category for this and similar subjects. Let me know if you have any ideas…

kville, drinking games, new orleans, katrina