Where: Art and Soul, Louisiana Kitchen and Bayou Bar, Acadiana, Bayou, Watershed, Taste of Jamaica, Bojangles’

Dirty rice is normally served as an accompaniment in Cajun cooking. White rice is cooked up with bell peppers, celery and onion, spices, and bits of chicken liver or gizzards to impart flavoring and the dirty appearance that lends its name to the preparation. You can find it in a box of Zatarain’s or on the sides section of any Louisianan inspired menu worth its shaker of “Slap Ya Mama.”

Some restaurants elevate the side dish; Watershed serves it with chicken livers and pecans. In the fast food world, Bojangles’ version comes with sausage instead of liver and Popeye’s renamed what comes in their little Styrofoam cup to Cajun rice, ostensibly to stop turning off their delicate clientele with the imagery evoked by the name. But few elevate it from its supporting role.

When it comes to rice-based Cajun entrees, jambalaya does the heavy lifting though you can have a big plate of dirty rice served with chicken or andouille sausage at Louisiana Kitchen in Bethesda.

In Washington, Art and Soul takes a vegetarian twist to make “Dirty Rice” a main course. Button mushrooms are cooked down to the consistency of what the chefs liken to a Bolognese sauce and to white rice stirred with porcini mushroom broth. The whole thing is topped off with charred, woody royal trumpet ‘shrooms, shreds of parmigiano, and a healthy green handful of chives.

The effect is something akin to a New Orleans riff on risotto, with the Carolina Gold rice offering much of the creaminess you would get from Arborio grains. It may lack the offal kick or meaty satisfaction a sought by carnivore. But it has a stamp of approval from the world’s most prominent vegan. Art and Soul served their “Dirty Rice” to the Dalai Lama, minus the cheese, when he spoke at the Verizon Center last July.

Small Bites

Taste of the Nation 2012
Taste of the Nation DC is this Monday night at the Building Museum. The annual event brings together chefs from just about every top restaurant in the Washington area to serve up hundreds of tasting portions of their food, not to mention the cocktails, beer, wine, cupcakes, and dizzying array of auction items. The event usually sells out, but tickets are still available: General Admission for $95 and VIP for $150 which allows access to the event one hour early and other perks. All proceeds benefit Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign with the Capital Area Food Bank, DC Hunger Solutions, and Mary’s Kitchen as local beneficiaries.

Cherry Blossom Viewing, er, Sushi Eating After Dark
A huge made-to-order sushi bar and traditional Maguro Kaitai ceremony (the breaking down of a whole tuna) are at the center of this Sunday night’s Hanami After Dark benefit to be held in the Ronald Reagan Building’s Pavilion Room. Tickets are steep at $175. But that’s cheaper than a flight to Tokyo to visit the famed Tsukiji fish market. And the event benefits Tomodachi, an initiative started in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake to strengthen ties between the next generations of Japanese and Americans.

Chocolate Cake Contest
Fourteen cakes and their bakers competed last Saturday in the Makes-Me-Wanna-SHOUT Chocolate Layer Cake Baking Challenge semifinals at Martha’s Table. The event raised $2,000 for the charity and picked five best cakes to compete in a Final Five bake off. Will the winner be Lucifer’s Revenge, a chocolate cake with mandarin oranges and Grand Marnier baked by Daryl Wright? The Ora, Valery Flood-Smith’s white chocolate cherry cream cheese red bliss cake? They’ll have to overcome the winner of Saturday’s judge’s choice award, Helen’s heavenly mocha white & milk chocolate glazed chocolate mayonnaise cake with white and milk chocolate buttercream frosting. Made by Jennifer Donald of Accokeek, Maryland. Longest cake name ever!