How to Talk Mardi Gras or The Language of Mardi Gras
Ash Wednesday - The first day of Lent, it’s the Wednesday after Mardi Gras (Fat
Tuesday). Catholics typically attend church, where a priest blesses them by drawing a cross of ashes on the forehead, a symbol of penitence and the frailty of life.
Ball, bal masque - A masked ball, where a krewe’s court is presented to the club members. Old-line krewes throw decorous balls, often introducing debutante daughters
of members. Attendance is by invitation only and limited to krewe members and their guests. A few newer krewes have refashioned the balls into bashes with celebrity guests and nationally recognized entertainment. Some are open to the public for the price of a ticket.
Boeuf Gras (beuf grah) - French for “fatted bull.” Since the Middle Ages, it has heralded
the feasting and festivities that precede the fasting and penitence of Lent. The fatted bull was killed on Monday, and the crowds gorged themselves on their last meat, trying to consume it all before midnight, when Lent began. The Boeuf Gras is a traditional theme float in the Rex parade in New Orleans.
Doubloons - Commemorative coins struck for individual krewes. They are designed with the krewe crest or emblem on one side and the parade and/or ball theme on the other.
Flambeaux (plural, flam-boe) – Multipronged long metal torches fueled by naphtha or kerosene and secured by straps slung about the waist. Before portable generators and battery-operated lights, they were the only way to illuminate the floats of night parades. Traditionally carried by white-robed African Americans, they began as a symbol of Haiti’s independence, won in 1791, after slaves held a torchlight parade led by their priests.
King Cake - A party staple from January 6 through Mardi Gras day, the cake is named for the three kings who visited the Christ Child and whose feast, the Epiphany, is celebrated on January 6, the Twelfth Night after Christmas. Traditionally, the cake is a brioche pastry baked in a circle, suggesting a crown (although for convenience, large ones are oval). They are sprinkled with gem-like sugar crystals in the official Mardi Gras colors of purple, green and gold. A plastic baby (symbol of the Christ Child), or in some cases a bean, is baked inside. By custom, the one who finds it throws the next king cake party. Lately, the brioche recipe has been supplemented by a coffee-cake ring alternative.
Krewe - A variation of the word “crew”. Most carnival organizations, except those in and around Mobile, AL, are known as krewes. Most are non-profit and raise money for charity. The word was invented with a little creative spelling in 1857 by the first New Orleans carnival organization. The founders of the Mistick Krewe of Comus, named their group for a reference to “Comus with his crew” from John Milton’s poem, “A Mask Presented at Ludlow-Castle.”
Lundi Gras - French for “Fat Monday,” it’s the day before Mardi Gras, and the revelry intensifies after the weekend parades.
Mystic Societies (or Secret Societies) – Basically the same thing as a krewe. Mobile, AL calls their Mardi Gras clubs “mystic societies” or “secret societies”.
Tableau - A scene enacted by masked krewe members at a Carnival ball. Staged before the dancing, it depicts the parade and/or ball’s theme. Think of it as a short, short, one-act mime.
Throws - Typically, plastic beads and cheap trinkets hurled by masked krewe members from passing floats. The usual suspects include beads (from plain round beads in Mardi Gras colors to light-up-and-flash crawfish and other swamp inhabitants), doubloons and plastic cups. However, depending on the parade, you could catch a rose, a stuffed animal,
an Opheus (New Orleans krewe) virbloon (a virtual doubloon: a CD with video highlights of the previous year’s parade footage), a plastic alligator, highly decorated shoes, Cracker Jacks, a rubber snake, a Zulu coconut (a New Orleans krewe’s tradition), spear, or a Moon Pie (graham cracker, marshmallow and chocolate or banana coating-prominent in Alabama, Mississippi and Florida – it’s a Southern thing). It could be anything from a pedicure set to candy. Many krewes have signature throws that are unique to them.