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Next: 9 Feb 2027

Mardi Gras

Fat Tuesday in New Orleans, with gumbo, red beans and rice, king cake with cinnamon sugar and Creole seasoning.

Mardi Gras Day, New Orleans: Krewe of Kosmic Debris revelers on Frenchmen Street
Photo: Infrogmation of New Orleans, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Spices for Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras is the last day before Lent and the climax of carnival in New Orleans. The food of the day is gumbo thickened with roux, okra or filé (ground sassafras), seasoned with bay, thyme, cayenne and black pepper; red beans and rice with a cayenne and paprika heat; and the king cake, a sweet braided ring with cinnamon and sugar in purple, green and gold. Creole and Cajun spice blends are a trace of French, African, Spanish and Indigenous traditions.

The spices

CinnamonIn the king cake.

Also part of it, and being written: Cayenne pepper (The heat of gumbo and boudin.), Filé powder (Ground sassafras leaf used to thicken gumbo.).

About this page

Written by the EveryMasala desk with AI assistance. Background: "Mardi Gras" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly digest

Every Monday: seven spices you may not know, what is cooking this week, and one blend explained step by step.