The "Mississippi Delta," I have read on more than one occasion, "begins in the lobby of the --- Hotel in Memphis, and ends at Vicksburg, Mississippi."
By definition, I thought, a river delta is at the mouth of the river, where it deposits its sediment in an ever widening area.
Is the "Mississippi Delta" (some say it's the home of The Blues) in northwest Mississippi and part of Arkansas something different from the "Mississippi River Delta"?
Yes.
If you need more confirmation, listen to this song, by Marc Cohn.
ETA: Also, here's this map.
My understanding is the Mississippi Delta is not a river delta in the traditional meaning but a designated cultural area for another reason I never fully understood. Thus the Mississippi River Delta is another thing at the mouth of the river itself.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_Delta
a designated cultural area for another reason I never fully understood
It's a music thing - thus the Marc Cohn song. The Delta Blues are just literally different from the Blues songs from anywhere north, or west. Muddy Waters was much more well known for his Chicago blues, but he got his start in Delta Blues. (Thus, his stage name - Muddy Waters.)
I suspect for you to understand it (as someone from Australia), you'd simply have to spend a month or so in that area. I don't think people from LA or New York ever would understand it - the folk there lead lives completely foreign to them. But the eating ... crawdad boils, fresh gator tail, catfish, hush puppies, black-eyed peas ... oh, yeah!
But the eating ... crawdad boils, fresh gator tail, catfish, hush puppies, black-eyed peas ... oh, yeah!
If they eat the black-eyed peas, what do they do with the blue-eyed peas?
But the eating ... crawdad boils, fresh gator tail, catfish, hush puppies, black-eyed peas ... oh, yeah!
The area, according to the Southern Foodways Alliance, is also surprisingly well known among foodies for its Hot Tamales, made of cornmeal and meat, some still cooked and served in real corn shucks, a staple in the diet of Mexican migrant laborers since the Mexican-American War.
Hot Tamales, made of cornmeal and meat, some still cooked and served in real corn shucks
That's just an everyday thing here, which is why I didn't mention it. We don't have too many gators in the middle of Oklahoma, but we got lots of Mexican food.
As a real Cajun, my opinion is that alligator ranks on the 'tastes good' ladder down at the 'only if there's nothing else around' rungs.
Impresses the hell out of outsiders and foodies though.
Crawfish weren't a Delta thing until they became an everywhere thing. Taste-wise, they're three orders of magnitude up over gator.
Oyster
Crawfish weren't a Delta thing until they became an everywhere thing. Taste-wise, they're three orders of magnitude up over gator.
You don't care for mud-bugs?
I think a whole lot of it has to do with how both are cooked, as well as the size of the original animal. It's just like catfish - once they get over a certain size, the meat's just not worth trying to cook, so you may as well throw them back.
ETA: I'm definitely not Cajun, but I spent way too much time at my brother's house as a kid, near the Pearl River, in Mississippi.
I served alongside several Cajuns, Choctaws, and other locals, when I deployed with the 1st Bn 155th Infantry, the "Mississippi Rifles" before I deployed I enjoyed the buffet at the Beau Rivage, and tried alligator, cooked three different ways. 'Gator' Sausage was quite good.
"As a real Cajun, my opinion is that alligator ranks on the 'tastes good' ladder down at the 'only if there's nothing else around' rungs.
Impresses the hell out of outsiders and foodies though."
I was going to pass on the buffet, however, the cute co-ed who was the hostess invited me to put together a plateful, and if I did not enjoy it, I wouldn't have to pay.
I admit that trying 'Gator' for the first time, and quite well prepared, was one of the key things that sold me on the buffet. The Coffee, roasted on site was another great selling point! Best I had consumed since I flew down from Seattle for pre-deployment training.
I consumed three plate-fulls, and several deserts; I was four days away from a fifteen-month deployment to Iraq.
I paid for the buffet, and gave the clever young saleswoman a hefty tip!
If not for the uniqueness factor, I agree with Oyster50.
I had better meals in the French Quarter of New Orleans; but I did enjoy the buffet at the Beau Rivage.
They were great folks, displaying Real "Southern Hospitality" when I commented on how good the coffee was, they allowed me to purchase several pounds of roasted coffee beans. Furthermore, upon learning I was about to deploy, they got my contact information and during my deployment, they mailed several bags of roasted coffee beans to me in Iraq. I shared that bounty with my squadmates in Iraq
