Fat Tuesday Feast

Eric Haydel celebrates Mardi Gras with a magnificent feast.

Cotton candy cocktails, colorful beads, and glittery decorations bring Mardi Gras to Eric Haydel’s dining room table. Owner of Eric Haydel Design, Haydel says Mardi Gras is his favorite holiday. Growing up in southern Louisiana in Thibodaux, just outside New Orleans, celebrating Mardi Gras is a family tradition he has enjoyed his whole life.

“The way people have a plethora of Christmas decorations, is what I have with Mardi Gras,” says Haydel. “It’s a tradition that began in my family well beyond me being alive.”

For his Fat Tuesday feast this year, Haydel made a meat-based gumbo, a salad topped with a homemade mustard vinaigrette salad dressing, appetizers passed down from his great aunt, and a cocktail he calls a sweet twist on a French 75.

Purple, green, and gold decorations and the king cake have religious meaning dating back to the European tradition. Hidden inside the king cake is a baby, which represents the Christ child, and whoever finds it is considered the king of the party and is responsible for hosting the party next.

“The king cake’s shape is oval, traditional to the route the kings took in the New Testament and each color represents one of the three kings,” says Haydel. “So, it has religious meaning behind it from start to finish.”

Happy Fat Tuesday!

For more information, visit https://erichaydel.com.

Photography by Warren Patterson