Party Hardy! It's Fat Tuesday, Or Mardi Gras!

 

Mardi Gras is also known as Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday") or Shrove Tuesday. This is the last day of feasting before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday.

Mardi Gras dates back thousands of years to pagan celebrations of spring and fertility. When Christianity arrived in Rome, religious leaders decided to incorporate the popular tradition into the new faith. The excess and debauchery of the Carnival season became a prelude to Lent, the 40 days of penance between Ash Wednesday and Easter. Mardi Gras marks the final day of feasting and revelry before the fasting, prayer and moderation of Lent. A common misconception is that Mardi Gras is the name for all of the revelry that begins Jan. 6 and continues through Ash Wednesday. This season of revelry is called Carnival; Mardi Gras is the culmination of it all.

Historians lay claim that the first American Mardi Gras was held March 3, 1699, when French explorers Bienville and Iberville landed in Louisiana. The first recorded New Orleans Carnival parade occurred in 1827. A group of students in colorful costumes danced through the streets. But in New Orleans today, the early weeks of Carnival are marked with elaborate balls, which are invitation-only, and celebrate the chosen royalty for each krewe, or private club, and also serve as a “coming out” for the season’s crop of debutantes, the daughters of the city’s social scions. The final weeks that lead up to Mardi Gras, are packed with street parades featuring bands, marching groups and large floats packed with costumed riders throwing beads and other trinkets to the masses in the streets. Weekly king cake parties are held in neighborhoods, schools and offices. King cakes are traditionally served for the first time on Jan. 6, or Kings Day, and are enjoyed throughout the Carnival season. A traditional king cake is a braided cinnamon-laced brioche-like cake topped with icing and colored sugars: purple, green and gold, symbolizing justice, faith and power. Bakeries now offer king cakes with fillings of fruit, cream cheese, even chocolate. A small plastic baby is placed inside the cake to symbolize the baby Jesus; the person who gets the piece of cake with the baby is responsible for buying the next king cake, usually within the next week.