Book Review: YAT WIT: Chicken Gumbo for the New Orleans Soul by Yvonne Spear Perret

If you know New Orleans, you know that it is it's own unique entity. The blend of people who founded the region, make for some very interesting dialects, cuisines and traditions. Put them all together and like a typical New Orleans gumbo you have something very unique.

In Yvonne Spear Perret's new book, YAT WIT: Chicken Gumbo for the New Orleans Soul, she has sought to take a look inside the gumbo pot and try to explain to outsiders what makes New Orleans special!


The title is derived from the common greeting, “Where y’at?” , heard all over New Orleans. A yat is a New Orleanian who speaks with a distinct phraseology and pronunciation, hence the "where y'at" for "where are you"! This book of candid and very humorous essays details the quirks, and perks, (sounds like a coffee doesn't it?) of life in New Orleans. From the dilemma of deciding who gets the third and final beignet ("Beignet Gris Gris", to the battle for plastic beads during Mardi Gras ("A Guide for mardi Gras Virgins"), to “Spell Check” (which laments the way Word documents attempt to correct common New Orleans terms-trust me, they can NOT cope!), to  “Big Easy Etiquette” ( a Emilie Peaust (aka Post) styled look at the manners necessary for avoiding a collision with a streetcar, eating a sloppy roast beef po’ boy, and poaching a ladder during a Carnival parade- all important things to know in New Orleans!).


Two of my favorites were:
“Season According to Taste” -which notes that New Orleanians mark the times of the year NOT by the four seasons, but by gastronomical seasons! We starts on January 6 with King Cake season, go into lent after Mardi Gras, which happily copincides with the start of Crawfish season (also known as Divine Intervention),as it ends comes Creole tomato season, followed by the rest of the Summer vegetables, which of course leads to Sno-ball season (how else can you survive the 98% humidity with 98 degree heat?), then comes cool weather and oyster season. WHEW. Of course the pilgrims being smart (LOL) set Thanksgiving in time for oyster dressing (right you are cher!), and then we ride the holiday season on a wave of sweet desserts, candies and cakes and pies. Which of course leads back to the king cake. AH, what a wonderful year, no?

And if that didn't make you hungry, my second fav essay will!  "Things I Learned About Life from a Crawfish Boil" is a hilarious take about how the favorite lent/ graduation weekend activity is truly more than what it seems. Here's some highlights, accompanied with some pix from this weekend's graduation party of my BF's son.

Before, AKA ALIVE!

1. Beware of the easy bait the world dangles in front of you, you could end up in the hot pot. Obviously the crawfish didn't and look where it got them!

2. The good things in life are worth waiting for-patience is the key! Just cause you THINK what you have in front of you looks great, something better is still ahead! Them there crawfish look done, but nope, NOT YET!

3. Appearances can be deceiving! It may look like a crawfish, but really it's a mixed bag of hot dog, crawfish remnants, corn remnants, potato and parts you don't want me to tell you what they are. But they look good together, no?

 4 Sometimes You Gotta Get Your hands Dirty. Doing so is half the fun AND playing with the crawfish head sure makes the time fly till the next batch hits the table!

5. Learn to take the bad with the good. Sometimes the hot dogs just aren't worth eating, but they make fine bodies for 'crawdogs', and upcycling is in vogue, right?!

AFTER! YUM!

6. Share! Family is more important than friends. There may be garlic, lemon, sausage,corn and hotdogs, in with the crawfish, but they are all seasoned the same and all belong to the family of Crawfish pot! 

See I told you you could learn something! Are you hungry yet? LOL- hope you enjoyed the pix! If you're a long-time local or a visitor, Yat Wit will remind you of  why New Orleanians remain resilient, in the effort to resurrect and preserve their beloved city, post Katrina, and more importantly WHY they should.

About the Author: Yvonne Spear Perret is a former teacher and interim principal of Isidore Newman School (ok, we're gonna forgive her for not teaching at either of our prep schools, or one of our brother/sister schools), where she was once honored as the Teacher of the Year. In addition to serving as an editor for New Orleans Wedding Guide, she has written for such publications as Disney FamilyFun, the Christian Science Monitor, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Gambit, and New Orleans Magazine. Perret graduated magna cum laude from Tulane University

 

Disclosure / Disclaimer:  I received this book, free of charge, from Pelican Publishing, fore review purposes for this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about the book.