by Brian Kirschner

With the 76ers playing Games 3 and 4 of their First Round series down in New Orleans, and marking just the second trip by the franchise to the Bayou since 1979 when the Jazz left for Utah, Sixers.com decided to find out what kind of delicacies the coaches, players and fans might find. To help guide us through these uncharted waters, Chef John Mims, owner of Carmine’s Creole Café (www.carminescreolecafe.com) (5 Brookline Blvd.) in Havertown, a New Orleans style restaurant, took some time to talk with Sixers.com.

The one thing everyone will find is that there are primarily two different cooking techniques in New Orleans - Creole and Cajun. Each distinct in its own right.

“Creole cuisine, otherwise known as city cooking, is influenced by French technique, Caribbean, African, Spanish,” Mims said. “It is similar to provencal style and is heavy with tomatoes, fresh herbs, butter and cream, as well as fresh fish from the Gulf of Mexico.

“Cajun, otherwise known as country cooking, derives from the Acadians who came from Nova Scotia, Canada, and settled in the Southern Bayou. It has a heavy influence from American Indian and French cuisine. It’s made with a lot of one pot cooking and tends to be spicy, while using a lot of game from Louisiana as well as the fish from the Gulf of Mexico.”

Mims recommends a number of dishes from some of New Orleans finer restaurants:

Crawfish et ouffee from Chef Paul Prudhomme’s K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen (416 Chartres St.) in the French Quarter.

Smoked redfish with shrimp, jumbo lump crabmeat and oysters from Christian's Restaurant (3835 Iberville Street).

Roasted duck with andouille, a spicy pork sausage, and pecan butter with sweet potatoes and collard greens from Brigtsen's Restaurant (723 Dante Street).

Fresh boiled shrimp, crawfish and crabs from all over the city. The little restaurants, especially in the Garden District also know as Uptown, where Mims grew up.

And for dessert, the bread pudding soufflé at Commander's Palace (1403 Washington Ave.), plus beignets, a New Orleans fried donut, at Cafe Du Monde (800 Decatur Street) with coffee and chickory.

Is there anything that the players should avoid?

“Avoid anything cooked with alligator,” Mims asserted. “The only thing they do with alligator down there is make shoes out of them. They send all of the alligator up here.”

Mims came to the Philadelphia area in 1992 and opened his restaurant in 1998. It originally started as a New Orleans style deli, but he has since changed it to Carmine’s Creole Café. Mims follows the style of Frank Brigtsen, his mentor.

“He’s real rustic Cajun. I lived in a small town called Laffitte, La. My whole childhood from the ages of 12 to 17 was in the middle of Bayou,” Mims, whose menu is very balanced between the Cajun and Creole styles, said. “There’s a strong influence of Cajun (there) … cooking with butane burners in the middle of the swamp, catching fish and crabs and cooking it right there. Unbelievable meals.”

Now of course for the big question - who is Mims rooting for?

“I follow the 76ers. I root for the 76ers. I live in Philadelphia now.”

For those fans not traveling to New Orleans, but who want to get a taste of the Bayou before the big games, stop by Carmine’s Creole Café (610-789-7255). Reservations are not necessary but recommended.