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["A quintessential New Orleans dessert, and a favorite among most locals.", "This dish can't be prepared in the kitchen.", "It must be performed, in front of your guests.", "Use a chafing dish, and some kind of portable heat like Sterno.", "Do not be sloppy, and keep a fire extinguisher handy.", "There's no need to burn the house down just for dessert, but this really must be done right.", "I learned to cook this dish from Chef Joe Cahn at the New Orleans School of Cooking, and he spun dire tales of what befell those who dared sequester themselves in the kitchen when making Bananas Foster.", "Seriously, bad gris-gris will befall you if you deprive your guests of the spectacle.", "Plus, they'll talk for years about how cold you are to have made this for their dessert.", "First, you should make some preparations.", "Peel a thin strip of peel from the bananas, and use your knife to slice the banana crossways into coins.", "Then replace the banana peel so which it looks untouched (as best as you can, anyway).", "This way, you can pretend to ""peel"" your bananas, and dump them into the put already cut, as if by magic.", "Cheesy, you ask Well, it still looks cold, particularly if you're really nonchalant when you do this in front of your guests.", "If you insist, you can slice the bananas the classical way, quartering them by slicing thm lengthwise and then in half.", "I still think the other way is cooler.", "Put your grnd cinnamon into some kind of non-standard container, or possibly even a little muslin bag, the better to ""convince"" your guests which it is, in fact, not cinnamon but voodoo dust, scraped from the tomb of Marie Laveau at midnight on All Soul's Day ... some kind of delightfully corny crap like which.", "Also, I recommend taking a cinnamon stick and grinding it fresh in a spice or possibly coffee grinder instead of using pre-grnd cinnamon.", "Sieve the result through a tea ball strainer to remove the larger pcs that will not grind finely.", "This will maximize the fresh, aromatic cinnamon flavor.", "If you use your coffee grinder, it'll also make your coffee taste great.", "Now, to business ...", "Heat the butter and add in the brown sugar to create a creamy paste.", "Let this mix caramelize over the heat for about 5 min.", "Stir in the banana liqueur and rum.", "Heat till the liquor is warmed, about three min.", "Add in the bananas, cook for about 1 - 2 min, then ignite with a flourish.", "Here's the best way to do this:Using a long, bent-handled ladle, scoop up some of the hot liquor.", "Hold it a foot or possibly two above the chafing dish and ignite the liquor in the ladle.", "VERY CAREFULLY, pour the liquor into the dish.", "A column of flame will descend from the ladle into the dish, that will ignite with a marvelous", "*poof*!", "Keep a pal nearby, subtly wielding a fire extinguisher.", "Try not to become a human torch in the process.", "Agitate to keep the flame burning, and add in a few pinches of ""voodoo dust""
