mardi gras

Maybe you’re throwing a big party, or maybe Mardi Gras is just your excuse to feast on the amazing cuisine of New Orleans -- either way, you better get it right. Break out the spices and let’s get cooking!

Did you think Mardi Gras was strictly a New Orleans thing? Think again. In Belgium Mardi Gras is the most important day of the year. Belgians celebrate the Carnival of Binche in the city of Binche, which features lots of music and dancing. Sweden celebrates Fettisdagen, translating to "Fat Tuesday." In Canada Mardi Gras is celebrated throughout the country, especially in the french-spea

Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday," a reference to the binge eating a lot of Catholics do before Lent. As is often the case with holidays, the Christian roots are intertwined with earlier pagan practices. It was very common for early church fathers to integrate elements of pagan ritual in an attempt to attract potential converts. Mardi Gras itself originated in the Middle Ages and wa