cafe brulot

Cafe Brulot is a tradition in my family - we have it after big holiday meals and at special occasions. It is also served in some restaurants - like Galatoire's on Bourbon (photo below taken last weekend).

With my fiance's parents in town (and staying with my parents), we knew that cafe brulot would be a fun experience. Cafe brulo is essentially a bunch of warmed alcohol (warmed so it will catch fire) and spices that is put into a silver bowl and briefly burned. A special ladle shows off the blue flames as the liquid drips back into the bowl. For shock value, a little is dripped on the tablecloth.

At our engagement party on Sunday, my parents took out their cafe brulot set. Below are our set of diablo brulo cups which are based on an 1890's design from the restaurant Antoines (one of the locations we looked at for the rehearsal dinner).

To finish the story, here is a video of my dad working the cafe brulot last Christmas. Every year on Christmas Eve, lots of friends and family gather at our house for dinner and celebrating. Every year my mom amazes us all by cooking for a small army with grace (have I mentioned she is a superhero?) and my dad threatens to burn off all the alcohol in the cafe brulot. As you can see, it is very popular with the entire extended family.