Effect of Hurricane Katrina to New Orleans - Article Example

David Hall Steven Weinberg – GE101-English Composition 26 October, 2006. The Effect of Hurricane Katrina to New Orleans, and the PotentialLoss of Cajun and Creole Cuisine in United States Restaurants Tyler had stated that in the beginning Creole food referred to haute cuisine from New Orleans and Cajun food was a term used for Acadian rural dishes. At present these genres are quite similar and there is not much difference between them. Subsequent to Hurricane Katrina many people thought that this type of cuisine would become scarce. Nevertheless, these fears proved to be unfounded as evidenced by the reopening of the renowned Creole eating places in New Orleans. The majority of these restaurants have recouped and Cajun restaurants and food have re – emerged with renewed vigor. Conditions after the onslaught of hurricane Katrina were chaotic. A major casualty was the crawfish market in southern Louisiana, which was very severely affected. Hurricane Katrina and Rita brought in huge amounts of saltwater, which proved to be the demise of the vegetation that forms the staple diet of the local crawfish. To add to these misfortunes the supply of this vegetation had been meager due to a prior drought in the area. The result of this disaster was that the price of Crawfish rapidly increased to such an extent that it became more than quadruple and on several occasions crawfish were just not available in the market. However, at this critical juncture the economic forces of substitution and adjustment came to the forefront and suppliers resorted to drawing “fewer crawfish from the ruined swamps and more crawfish from the still-intact ponds.” Moreover, Crawfish were transported to this area from places where they were available. In this manner normalcy was restored to the market in a matter of a few months. Chinese crawfish have obtained a strong foothold in Louisiana in the aftermath of the storm; however, this product is "tail only." Moreover, Cajun food has been exposed to crisis several times and to its credit it has emerged stronger after each crisis. This fact is proof of superior quality of the cooking and the commitment of the chefs. Furthermore, this region does not display much economic diversity and the available employment is severely limited. Hence, cooking as a profession has remained lucrative. Cajun cuisine attained its highest degree of popularity during the oil boom of the early 1980s. At that point of time this area had surplus cash and this led to the indiscriminate opening of restaurants. The subsequent reduction in oil prices compelled the local hoteliers to shift their focus to tourists as a source of income. The present problems in the food markets created by the Hurricane Katrina are not that serious compared to the numerous crises faced by the people of this region. This accounts for the confidence of the people of this region. The majority of the people in Cajun country do not associate themselves with New Orleans or its problems. Moreover, many people in this region believe that the effect of Hurricane Katrina will prove to be beneficial for this cuisine due to the dispersion of those familiar with this food. Accordingly, former New Orleans residents have dispersed all over the country and are either opening new restaurants, searching for this type of food or discussing its merits with their newly acquired friends and neighbors. This has resulted in an increase in the national demand for Cajun food. With this increase in its popularity across the nation, Cajun food is getting more and more disassociated with its region of origin. These Cajun dishes are different from what is served in Abbeville or New Iberia and Louisiana food has become less "Cajun". In an internet article Cowen has stated that seafood has held a place of importance, in this area, from the 1920s. In those by gone days electricity, refrigeration and good roads, which enabled rapid transportation, resulted in a transformed local food markets. Crawfish replaced the less delicious gar and became very popular with people consuming seafood. This change is quite recent and commenced about fifty years ago. Moreover, Turtle, squirrel, muskrat, alligator and nutria have all been relegated to the background in the Cajun cuisine and modern Cajun food hardly resembles “the original 17th-century version or even the early-20th-century version.” This indicates the high adaptability of this cuisine and it is this very adaptability that will ensure its survival even when it has to face new crises. Emeril Lagasse is one of the most famous chefs in respect of "Louisiana cuisine." He belongs to the Fall River, Massachusetts and his ancestry is mixed French-Canadian and Portuguese. Cajun food has emerged from the storms and is sure to overcome the “ill effects of the economic and population decline of New Orleans.” Hence this great American cuisine has not been harmed by the Hurricane Katrina. Clark Wolf a restaurant industry expert declared that New Orleans was one of Americas food capitals. "New Orleans gave us a sense that there could be a regional American food style. It gave us the notion that food was about celebration, and taught Americans that a little spice never hurt. Its the original fusion cuisine in this country -- Cajun." This indicates that he is sanguine that the citys culinary dynasties like the Lagasse and Brennan families will emerge victorious. In Hotel Online it is written that the situation is grim due to the fact that almost 3,500 restaurants have been closed due to flooding, looting and fires. However, Restaurant owners like Kenny LaCour, are of the opinion that it is essential to preserve this culture. Despite a year having elapsed after Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans, operators are still struggling to rebuild their livelihoods. Some of the restaurants are in business, while a large number have yet to recover. Scott Boswell who is a chef cum owner of the Stella and Stanley restaurants has resumed business. Similarly, restaurants like the Biloxi, MS and the 1,740-room, 32-story Beau Rivage Resort & Casino are also scheduled to reopen. The main challenges faced by hotel operators in New Orleans are those posed by a changing market and a steep increase in expenditure. Instances of this trend are Tujagues Restaurant, which reopened in November 2005 but had to reduce prices in order to “accommodate locals and relief workers budgets.” However, The Camellia Grill’s fate remains unknown and its patrons have made several requests to its owners to reopen it. In a journal article Ruggless has written that the president of BOL Inc. of Baton Rouge, La Rick Pastorek had stated that "Our biggest challenge is finding enough employees to work in the restaurants. Were still dealing with insurance claims and contractors. All of the restaurants are open, the last in Metairie, but we finally got that up and running in March. There are still issues with roofs and light poles and other things." All this goes to show that despite a steep increase in other operational costs sales had shown a significant increase (1-2). Weatherly wrote in the Newton that prior to the havoc wreaked by hurricane Katrina, “New Orleans was a leading domestic incentive destination.” The cause for this was its cultural blending, mixing of various cuisines, cosmopolitan music and a je ne sais quoi that was reflected in the jazz tunes, gumbo and parade floats. The people of this region being very great optimists bought new equipment and made plans to rebuild their businesses. Many amongst them diversified into new products. However, their most important contribution was that they encouraged and exhorted their fellow restaurateurs and their suppliers to toil unceasingly in order to recover from this catastrophe. This optimism is best reflected in The Louisiana Restaurant Association whose words of encouragement have resulted in the investment in new equipment by several established restaurants (98). Severson’s observation was that those restaurants that were open were functioning in a city “whose infrastructure, work force and population can barely support them.” Moreover, the basic amenities had not yet been restored to normalcy. For instance, the French Quarter chef Susan Spicer discovered that water had leaked into the natural-gas line, which was a major threat to the equipment because it could damage it permanently. The recovery process is far from complete and even established and major players like Emeril Lagasse are earning only fifty percent of the amount that they were earning before the Hurricane Katrina onslaught. Lagasse pithily concluded that Its not fixed, and its not pretty (F.1). All this goes to indicate that though the situation is grave, the restaurants are all set to commence business. Restoration of the status quo ante will take time but it will definitely happen and people can once again look forward to a booming business in this sort of cuisine. Works Cited Hotel Online, “New Orleans Foresee a Slow Recovery”. 30 October. 2006 . Ruggless, Ron. “Restaurateurs struggle through Katrina recovery.” Nation’s Restaurant News. New York. Vol. 40. Iss. 35 28 Aug. 2006: 1-2. Severson, Kim. “In New Orleans, knives, Forks and Hammers.” New York Times (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York. 23 Aug. 2006: F.1. Tyler, Cowen. “An Economist Visits New Orleans: Has Cajun Cuisine Recovered?” 21 April. 2006. Mercatus Center, George Mason University. 30 October. 2006 . Weatherly, Tom. “Foodservice Equipment & Suppliers.” Newton. Vol. 59. Iss. 9 Sep 2006: 98. Read More