Ian McNulty tried all the new food at Jazz Fest 2024. Here's what to get, what to skip

Each year, I start the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival by sampling what's new around the food booths. This year brought a very full plate, with several new vendors, a few returning after missing years past and menu changes from others.

Here’s a look at all the new options and how they shake out.

New vendors

Haitian flavor from Fritai, Food Area 1

This new vendor is a Haitian restaurant in Treme, and it debuts with popular items from its regular menu.

The shrimp pikliz ($12) is a cool slaw surrounding sweet shrimp, with plantain chips blazing-hot with chile pepper fire.

The Haitian crab macaroni au gratin ($12) is a boat of hearty, heavy comfort food, with strands of crab deeply blended into a thick, buttery, creamy sauce.

The “toasted corn ribs” ($8) are cut so that you nibble the kernels off a curving “bone” sliced from the cob, with a roasted red pepper sauce, which tastes very Creole.

Verdict: Shrimp pikliz is a must-try if you crave spice, the corn is fun, the macaroni might be tempting a food coma at the fest.

Colombian dishes, drinks at Cultural Exchange Pavilion

The Cultural Exchange Pavilion right in the middle of the Fair Grounds this year celebrates Colombia, and that includes food and cocktails. It comes through a collaboration between the restaurant Carmo and the pop-up Waska.

The vegetable ceviche ($9) must be among the most healthy dishes ever served at Jazz Fest; the shrimp version ($12) is vibrantly fresh and flavorful and much more interesting.

The vegetarian empanada ($7) gets my nod over the chicken ($7) for all the gooey cheese that comes through the chip-crisp cornmeal crust.

A frozen coco loco made with aguardiente is not too sweet, has a refreshing tang and really hit the spot on a hot day ($13.50).

Verdict: A worthy culinary complement to the Colombian theme with welcome vegetarian option and a great drink.

Crawfish from Clesi’s Seafood, Food Area 1

For many out-of-state visitors, this Jazz Fest booth may well be their first taste of boiled crawfish, or the first in a while anyway. Clesi’s Restaurant is serving a great representation here ($9), with a boil that’s straightforward, well-seasoned, juicy and with good tail texture (and yes, “tail texture” is a thing).

Clesi's is also serving crawfish étouffée ($10), another good representation of the homestyle dish rarely seen in restaurants these days — buttery and peppery — and Cajun crawfish dirty rice ($10), which is like a Louisiana fried rice with a mix of ground beef and crawfish tails and a spicy kick through its salty grains. This is a good pairing to eat alongside the boiled crawfish.

One in-house mash-up is the "messy Clesi" ($13) which tops that crawfish rice with étouffée, for extra decadence.

Verdict: The crawfish stand is in good hands, and first-timers to crawfish will get to taste the real deal here.

Cracklin' returns from Chris’ Specialty Foods, Food Area 1

Cracklin’ has been a festival fave that was absent from Jazz Fest the past two years. Now it’s back with a new vendor, and this time there’s both pork cracklin’ and chicken cracklin’ ($8).

Verdict: The pork is much more satisfying. The chicken has a bit of squish to the texture, whereas the pork gives the namesake audibility in its crunch over wonks of meat.

Ice pops from Firefly Pops, Kids’ Area

These are not your ordinary Popsicles. The café au lait version has a mellow-sweet icy-cold-coffee goodness and the chocolate-dipped Louisiana strawberry gives a tasty contrast between the vivid red fruit and the chocolate shell. It even has a jazzy little dose of sprinkles, as if dressed up for Jazz Fest. ($6 each)

Verdict: A tasty treat with local flavor, not just for kids.

New dishes from old favorites

Pork debris and grits, Caluda’s, Food Area 2

This is essentially grillades and grits, but made with pork instead of the more typical beef or veal.

Whatever we call it, this is fantastically flavorful. The pork comes apart in strands with just the right chew so that the flavor sinks in. The grits are a deep yellow shot through with kernels that give fresh pops throughout.

Verdict: It doesn't leap off the menu but this is a sleeper hit in the making.

Crab, shrimp and tomato quiche, Marie’s Sugar Dumplings, Congo Square

Yolanda Casby is back after missing the past two Jazz Fests, and now she's back with a new quiche ($10), made in individual palm-sized crusts, all buttery and flaky, that give a lovely texture of stretchy cheese and a generous amount of crab folded in.

Verdict: Make this your Jazz Fest breakfast, a first taste to start the day.

Louisiana crawfish salad roll, Papa Ninety Catering, Food Area 1

This one is a reboot of a similar dish served by a past vendor. This edition is a vast improvement.

The roll, once a tad sweet, is better, with a denser chew, and the cool crawfish salad within is bursting plump and flavorful in a creamy, lightly spicy dressing.

Verdict: A welcome return of a much improved dish; great on hot days.

Hogshead cheese, Vaucresson Sausage Co., Food Area 1

The oldest vendor at Jazz Fest went back to the family recipe book for this one. It’s a rich, cool, spicy, slightly sour and very flavorful rendition of a downhome tradition. Add a dab of Vaucresson’s own housemade mustard and it goes to the next level.

Verdict: If you go deep on Louisiana flavor, you have to try it. Fainter palates should stick with po-boys.

Bananas Foster cheesecake and Louisiana strawberry cupcake, Keyala’s Pralines, Food Area 1

This bananas Foster cheesecake ($9) is creamy rich, with a crunch of dried banana slices like chips over the top, a mouth-coating caramel sauce and a bottom crust that snaps with cracker crispness.

There’s also a strawberry cupcake ($6) is a pretty presentation for a straight-up cupcake with an airy whip of strawberry frosting.

Verdict: The cheesecake is a must-try over the cupcake.

BBQ jackfruit sandwich, Smoke Street Catering, Food Area 1 

This vegetarian sandwich ($10) has jackfruit standing in for pulled pork. The chunks and strands of the cooked fruit have a vinegary sour flavor packed on a standard picnic bun, bound with caramelized onion. Note: If you’re going for a vegan sandwich, skip the mayo-based coleslaw.

Verdict: A good vegetarian option, but it won't tempt omnivores.

Shrimp beignets, Patton’s Catering, Food Area 1

This is a small change of a dish, but even small changes matter when it comes to Jazz Fest food. Usually, Patton’s makes crawfish beignets, served on their own or as part of the epic combo plate with a crawfish sack and oyster patty. This shrimp version is an alternate that’s long been in the Patton's repertoire.

Verdict: Count me on team crawfish. I like the chewier texture within the crawfish beignets better, but the shrimp version does mean the combo plate will have crawfish, oyster and shrimp represented and that’s pretty cool.

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