Serving Maque Choux without Pepper

Crossposted at My Left Wing

Those of you from south Louisiana are familiar with maque choux (pronounced “mock shoe”).  A failed French translation of a Native term, macque choux roughly translates as pimping cabbage.  But there is no cabbage in maque choux; it is largely comprised of corn.  Here is a picture for those of you not familiar with Cajun cuisine:

Here is my recipe for maque choux:

12 ears fresh corn, husked and silked (or 9 cups frozen
4 strips vegetarian bacon
1 1/2 cups diced yellow onion
3/4 cup diced red bell pepper
3/4 cup diced green bell pepper
2 tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
2 teaspoons salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Prepare the corn: Hold an ear of corn firmly with the bottom end placed on a cutting board or in a large bowl to keep the kernels from splattering. With a sharp knife, cut straight down the cob, cutting off only 2 or 3 rows at a time until all kernels are removed. Then, using the back of the knife blade, scrape down the cob to remove the corn milk. Add this milk to the corn kernels in a large bowl. Repeat procedure with each of the remaining ears of corn. Set aside.
2. Cook the Maque Choux: In a large stockpot, cook the vegetarian bacon until crisp. Save vegetarian bacon strips for another use. Leave vegetarian bacon fat in bottom of stockpot. Cook onions and the red and green bell peppers in the vegetarian bacon fat until soft — about 5 minutes. Add corn kernels and corn milk, ground black pepper, ground red pepper, garlic, tomatoes and salt. Cook over medium-low heat for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep the corn from sticking. Cover the pot, lower the heat, and simmer 5 to 10 minutes. Serve warm

When the maque choux is steaming for 30 minutes, the pepper literally activates the dish.  And when one eats it, one experiences the sensation of hot pepper penetrating every orifice of the body, catalyzing a state of bliss and unrestrained energy unknown to those who were not raised on aromatic meals served in convivial settings.  

But imagine serving maque choux without the pepper: one would be left with a bland conglomeration of bell peppers and corn.  Many would think it is feed for the cows.

Now enter Karen Carter, a Democrat facing Dollar Bill Jefferson of 900,000 of frozen dollars fame in a runoff scheduled for December 7.  Matt Stoller at MyDD calls Carter a “progressive Democrat,” and he contrasts her to the ethically challenged Jefferson, who, he writes, is “a DLC Congressman caught with $90k in cash in his freezer.”  Jefferson is certainly DLC, and he is definitely corrupt.  But are the two related?

Maybe they are.  But the candidate MyDD, DailyKos and Swing State Project are now touting is also DLC.  If we are to follow the syllogism Stoller employs, Carter must then be corrupt and probably not progressive.  

Although I will not speculate on the former, I am confident she is nowhere near the latter.  For what are we to make of the following bilge penned by a DLC writer?

During its annual legislative retreat last fall, the Congressional Black Caucus invited Karen R. Carter and other rising stars on the African-American political scene to participate in a panel discussion on America’s emerging black leadership. The session later drew a rebuke from noted black political columnist Ron Walters, who accused the panelists, composed largely of New Democrats, of dishonoring the civil rights tradition and regarding it as a burdensome relic.

Carter, who has represented New Orleans in the Louisiana House since 1999, says such characterizations are far off the mark.

“What happened at that event was an open line of communication between generations and it was accepted with open arms by the elders of the African-American community,” she explains. “I was raised in that community and have deep respect for those who came before me.”

But Carter, 33, also adds, “I am not afraid to sit in conference rooms” with members of the older generation of leaders “and agree to disagree.”

Invalidating the unfinished project that is Civil Rights in the name of agreeing to disagree, an utterance that recalls Kerry’s claim to vote for before he voted against a peice of legislation, is certainly not progressive.  For are not progressive politics founded upon the various breakthroughs attained by women, African-Americans, gay men, lesbians and participants in the sexual revolution and anti-war movements during the 1960s?  Would not abandoning this legacy as so much critical toxic waste in the name of presenting oneself as more rational and more “contemporary” be tantamount to denigrating the Democratic Party in order to appear more appealing and less shrill to those who refer to themselves as Republicans?  Is this not classic triangulation, but an even more insidious form of triangulation in that it casts scorn upon a movement whose unfinished project is one any Democrat who calls themselves progressive should feel obligated to complete?  

Karen Carter is no progressive.  But why would those who want to participate in Louisiana politics market her as such?  Yes, it is important to retire Bill Jefferson, but one should not mislead others with incorrect labels in order to do so.  Just imagine serving maque choux to a Cajun without the pepper.  Would they be pleased?  Would they not regurgitate the mixture and threaten to throw you to the alligators?  

They would throw you to the alligators, and they would tell you to not interfere with Cajun cuisine until you learn its magic.  The spice creates both the dish and the atmosphere.  Any attempt to simulate either without the spice and without the touch simply will not work.  Learning the craft of Cajun cuisine is necessary in order to create a dish that activates the soul.

And if one wants to properly intervene in an election in order to oust an incumbent, one should start in the open primary.  For there were multiple Democrats with platforms that could pass as progressive.  Troy Carter and Regina Bartholomew, both of whom failed to qualify for the runoff, would have been much better candidates.  

Troy Carter, not related to DLC Karen, is a former New Orleans City Councilman who ran for Mayor of New Orleans in 2002.  He has name recognition and election experience.  Although Bartholomew lacks political experience, she is a tenacious attorney who worked for the New Orleans School Board.  When speaking in public, both presented platforms that were resolutely progressive.  For example, Troy Carter answered “yes” when asked if he believed George Bush misled the American people into the war in Iraq.  DLC Karen Carter, on the other hand, answered “No.”  I guess she wanted to appear “moderate.”

Intervening in Louisiana elections without knowing that we hold open primaries before a runoff just leads to bad results.  If blogs were truly concerned about this seat, they would have endorsed a truly progressive candidate, not one of the DLC Democrats with which the citizens of Orleans and Jefferson Parishes are stuck in the runoff.  

We pride ourselves on our differences in Louisiana.  Our food is spicy, and our elections are entertaining for their diversity and their occasional insanity.  But if one wants to prepare and enjoy our food, you cannot do without the spice.  And if one wants to affect our elections, one has to follow the procedure completely, not just interfere at the last minute.  While I am glad the blogosphere wants to get involved in Louisiana politics, I just wish they learned about our culture and our method of electing officials before making their anticlimatic entrance.  But as it stands, any result of their late intervention will leave us with something Louisiana progressives will wholly reject: a DLC Democrat who will be just as satisfying as a dish of maque choux without the pepper.  I wish them luck in their attempt pass off the thin gruel to Cajuns and Creoles.  Those in the North may be fooled, but those of us down here will know that they are just “pimping cabbage.”