Khin Maung Toe (Moe Meik) - My America

“My grandfather, Alfred, played the trumpet, and he was the same age as Louis Armstrong. He loved Louis Armstrong very much, and I loved him too, especially when he sang ‘What a Beautiful World.’ In fact, Louis Armstrong should have been the president of the United States. Everyone loved him.”

"John paused for a long time. That gave me time to think about other things to talk about. The thing I was thinking about was delicious food. As soon as I started talking about it, he

"I don't know where you're going to eat tonight, but you can't go wrong with a place in New Orleans, you know, don't you? Well, I have some folks in the "Spots" up in Washington, and I don't believe those Spots eat ordinary food," he said.

John pulled into the driveway. "Stop in front of Mason's."

"Here we are, life is short, so enjoy it while you're here."

The next afternoon, “El(la) La Brenan” came to me as John had told me. At that time, I was sitting at a table in the “Commander’s Palace” on the second floor of her “Garden Restaurant.” Her restaurant was the best restaurant in the city for food lovers. My friend had fried fish with pecans for lunch, which was very good. When she finished eating, she dipped her bread in the sauce and sipped it in private. At that moment, a very beautiful woman came up to me, a New Orleans cook. She and I had known each other for twenty years.

She and I were chatting about the city's deep-rooted problems, about the poor, about the corrupt politicians. . . .

"I don't want poverty and corruption to disappear. My friend asked me, 'Do you like Italy?' I said yes, so he said, 'Okay, just think about the Italy you like.'"

, 'I think what he said is true. New Orleans is a Mediterranean city, and there are things to say about New Orleans, like good food, family, friends, poverty, fun, innocence, etc. But we can't really change those things."

She was looking across the street at the old Lafayette Cemetery, with its rows of large graves. She stared at it for a moment, then said, “There, take a look.” I immediately understood what she meant by asking me to take a look.

She shook my hand and said, “I’m just happy to be here.” - Actually, if you were to say that you were happy in New Orleans without any physical injuries, I wouldn’t even think about it. You can’t describe New Orleans with the word “unique.” And it’s not like it’s “unique.” I just want to say that places like New Orleans exist only in New Orleans. Yes. New Orleans is a unique place in America.

The dim light of the gas lamps in the dark, the intricate ironwork that you see when you walk down the sidewalks of the French Quarter, remains unchanged. It is "Jew." A member of the Jewish community. Joe's mother couldn't cook. Joe liked it. Joe never hesitated to go to a good place for good food.

"I worked in restaurants, I didn't become a chef, I admire chefs, and waiters are important in restaurants, but if you don't respect the best food in the world, that food is no good at all."

Joe says you can't find good food in New Orleans restaurants.

"Food that takes time to cook in the kitchen is really delicious. I'll tell you how to learn to cook. The way to do that is to go to the supermarket, go to the meat counter, and ask the person buying the meat, "What are you going to do with that meat?" That's the way."

Joe runs a cooking class out of the back of his grocery store, and his instructor is “Kevin Bell (La)ton.” He shares the same interests as Joe. He is six feet nine inches tall and weighs three hundred and sixty pounds. He walks around the class with aplomb. He is always happy.

“I always remember that I was a good eater. When I was about fourteen days old, my wet nurse would tell me that the milk was good, but I also wanted to eat fish, crabs, and shrimp. I even thought about it.

“When I come home from school, I ask, ‘Mom, what’s cooking?’ When I ask, Mom says, ‘Wait a minute, son,’ and runs to the kitchen, where she starts cooking whatever she has.”

'When my mother was cooking, I never went anywhere. I stayed with my mother. My mother was a teacher. If I had to talk to a student on the phone while she was cooking, she would always ask, "Kevin, try making this, Kevin, try making that." That's how I learned to cook.

"Now my kids do their homework in my kitchen. Hehe, my kids are learning the same way I learned to cook. In fact, it's better for the family to meet in the kitchen than to watch TV. When we go to a party, we usually split into two groups, right? The group that wants to sit in the living room and the group that wants to go to the dining room. The group that goes to the dining room is the best."

During a three-hour class, Keebin showed the students how to cook. Most of the students were women. On the day I visited his class, there were female students from Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Arizona, England, and Japan. They were all polite and well-mannered. They also knew how to cook and prepare their own food quite well. But Keebin, who was a stickler for routine, treated them all as if they were newbies with emotional needs. He started with the three essential ingredients in cooking. These three were onion, mustard, and chili. His presentation was so interesting that I kept following along. *

Keating explained.

"Let's say Jimbaran, you know, right? It's a staple dish eaten by both the rich and the poor. It's a very popular dish. But it's not easy to cook, and it's not simple to make. It takes two cups of rice, two cups of liquid, and the proportions are right."

He asked all the trainees to recite it in unison. "One cup of rice, two cups of the three main dishes, and two cups of liquid." "Yes, the two cups of liquid should be three-quarters of the three main dishes, and the remaining quarter should be plain sweet sauce for the poor, and a better kind for the rich."

At that moment, I was imagining the image of my mother cooking in the kitchen.

Kibin asked the trainees again.

“Which one do you use in this recipe, butter or margarine?” . . - I think the participants understood immediately. They answered in unison, “You can use whatever is available.”

"That's right, right, should we add chicken or sour cream?" Kibin asked with a big smile.

"You can add whatever is ready"

"That's right, if you're cooking for a large group of people, just increase the three ingredients I mentioned in proportion, for example, twenty cups of rice, forty cups of the three main dishes, forty cups of liquid, and so on."

After explaining, he put the “gimbalara” pot on the stove. Then he started to prepare another dish. When the class was over, he served the students plates full of “gimbalara,” soup bowls, desserts, pickles, and bread pudding. He made a place for me to join them. I don’t think I’ll ever have another meal in New Orleans as good as that lunch.

A trainee at our table asked Keebin, “Can I use rum instead of the “Bowahhorn” whiskey in the bread pudding sauce?” Keebin smiled and replied, “Oh, that’s fine, I’ll add whatever I have ready.”

My next visit to New Orleans includes the intention of living in New Orleans for a month and eating all the food I like. With that intention, I would be considered a snobbish person if I were in another place other than New Orleans. But New Orleans is not a place. There is a guy I work with in New Orleans. He is “Phil (L) Johnson.” He is a writer, a musician, my friend, a chef, and a great foodie. He is very busy. But when it comes to going out for dinner, he always drops everything and is always ready. He and I have been having dinner together in New Orleans for about thirty years. He owns restaurants in New Orleans.

Phil grew up surrounded by day laborers. He grew up in a neighborhood with a “Canal” street, a river, and a cemetery. He lived among the children of immigrants from other towns. They were all nice people. Phil had a friend named “Warren LeRoux.” Phil worked at a baseball field for seventy-five cents a night and became a sports writer. “Warren” was interested in cooking. Eventually, they both became famous. Phil became known as the night editor of W.W., an L.A. TV station, and “Warren” as the owner of “LeRoux,” the most famous restaurant in New Orleans.

"Warren" didn't open his restaurant in the city, but in "Gretner" where he could afford the rent. He had to cross the river.

Soon after opening, his restaurant was packed with diners. The first dinner I had at “Waring” restaurant with “Phil” one night is a memorable and mouth-watering meal for me.