Chopping It Up in New Orleans With Action Bronson About Bush Meat and the Philadelphia Offensive Line

On a sweltering Saturday afternoon in New Orleans, just over 24 hours away from kickoff of Super Bowl LIX, Action Bronson has one thing on his mind. “I want a million oysters,” he says. “Charbroiled is phenomenal, but raw is from the essence.”

The 41-year-old rapper-chef-food personality is on stage at Pepsi NOLA Eats Fest, a riverfront celebration of the city’s impeccable grub. New Orleans is throwing its last full-day party of the week, which has brought seemingly the entire entertainment world to the gulf shores, creating biblical traffic that made both of us late. Before climbing on stage and answering questions about jazz and crawfish (he tailors his answers in real time to the locals in attendance, who gently shake their heads when they disagree), Bronson and I hide from the heat in a folding tent backstage. He’s wearing his signature look: t-shirt, shorts, sunglasses, sneakers. After shaking a few hands and taking a few photos as part of a meet and greet, he tells the final fan that his plan now is to talk to GQ, do some pushups, and then get on stage.

As promised. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

“I love it down here,” he tells me. “I have this in my blood.” The festival features pop-ups from ten restaurants around the Big Easy—everything from a Jamaican grill to a barbecue joint to an Italian bistro—and a performance from Mannie Fresh. Bronson says it was a no-brainer to come to America’s most unique food city, one he says has inspired him and chefs around the country. Where does New Orleans land on his personal list of food cities from around the world? “I haven’t sat down to make that power ranking,” he admits. “But I would imagine it’s in the top ten. It has to be. I mean, there’s a lot of places in this world. For New Orleans to be top ten, that means it’s beating out a lot of stuff. Think about how many places there are on this earth.”

The food scene, of course, is one thing, but Bronson also has a cousin down here who “works with all the line dancers and music troupes and shit like that.” This gives him a bit of familiarity with the city, where he has equal respect for counter-service sandwich spots like Turkey and the Wolf as well as staples like Willie Mae’s and Cafe du Monde. An acclaimed cook in his own right, Bronson has tried his hand at a few classic New Orleans dishes, breaking down how it all works for me.

“There’s a trinity here in New Orleans: peppers, onions, celery. It’s not like normal mirepoix. This is the New Orleans style of cooking, a Cajun mirepoix. Then you take that roux and you gotta brown it. That’s butter and flour together, it’s used as a thickener. The basis of all this New Orleans-style cooking is brown roux. It gives it that nutty backbone.” I tell him that during my Super Bowl week, nearly the entire animal kingdom has touched my tastebuds. I’ve sampled the obvious seafood classics, but also rabbit, alligator, and frog, all of which were delicious. “They have all kinds of bush meat here, which I love,” he says, real reverence coming through his trademark Queens drawl.

If you know anything about Louisiana, it’s probably something to do with food, music, or football. It does not seem like hyperbole to say no one on the planet is better equipped to have a discussion about these things than Bronson, who’s made a living in both the recording studio and the kitchen, but also as the author of the most obscure sports references in rap history. “I do know ball,” he says. “I know a slew of things from the world of sports.” It’s not surprising then, that during our brief conversation he name drops not only New Orleans rap groups Big Tymers and U.N.L.V., but also a deep cut defensive tackle who played three years for the Saints. “Norman Hand, who the fuck would mention that dude?” he asks rhetorically, clearly impressing himself. “Damn, I can’t believe I just pulled that one out. That’s amazing.”

This is the kind of stuff you’d hope to get out of a conversation with a man who’s referred to himself in a song as the young Randy Velarde (a former Yankee infielder) and hosted a cooking show with an appropriately profane name (Fuck, That’s Delicious). He voices his love for both Joe Horn and andouille sausage. “But andouille blanc, ya know?” I don’t. I do know that whether Action Bronson is remembering some guys from the early-2000s with you or discussing his world travels—he estimates that he’s been to over 100 countries, including “near the Arctic circle with the Inuits”—it’s impossible to contain your laughter. The discussion of NFL wide receivers triggers another memory from his vast and exciting life, one that sounds like something somebody would say if they were trying to get noticed by the Accidental Bronson account on Twitter, which re-posts things people tweet that sound like they could be Bronson bars.

Speaking of: “I’ve seen Terrell Owens eat 100 nuggets at LAX,” he tells me. “This was when McDonald’s was doing the 50 nugget deal. He had two boxes with him at 7 am. I was fucking baffled.”

As our time together comes to a close, we chat about the Chiefs-Eagles rematch about to take place. A former center and guard during his youth, the bearded man from Bayside has a true appreciation for what the Philadelphia offensive line has done this season, opening up holes as wide as the Mississippi River for Saquon Barkley to run through. “Saquon is good on delays, he’s good on off-tackle plays, he’s good between the tackles,” Bronson says, showing off his sports analyst skills as he compares the Eagles’ running back to Barry Sanders. “That’s the thing, you get him running north-south and able to make cuts? With his patience? He’s shown what he’s about. He’s developed unbelievably. I think the Giants made a massive mistake.”

I leave the Eats Fest with a smile on my face, a delectable Willie Mae’s chicken sandwich in my belly, and a brain full of wisdom that only Action Bronson could impart. Listening to him charm the people of New Orleans from the stage, I’m particularly tickled by his wonderfully Bronson-esque response to a question about his plans for the rest of his stay.

“Dance, sing, laugh, love, cry…kiss!”