The king cake compulsion is contagious it seems. Just ask Bengals fans in Cincinnati who are now cutting into king cakes, all because of Joe Burrow and the quarterback’s Louisiana link.
A Cincinnati business called Busken Bakery began making Bengals-themed king cakes. It follows the classic form, except with Bengals orange and black in place of the Carnival colors. There’s even a plastic baby, which the bakery has dubbed “Baby Joey.”
Burrow of course, is the Ohio native who led LSU to a national championship. This Sunday, he’ll bring the Bengals to their first Super Bowl appearance since 1988, and their possible first win.
This is a case where imitation does indeed feel like flattery. Louisiana food culture makes an imprint and it resonates with good times.
I do not recall anybody rushing to embrace the foods of Indiana when Perdue University product Drew Brees was changing the franchise trajectory of the Saints.
The Cincinnati bakery’s adoption of the king cake also seems like fair play considering how many people in Louisiana have suddenly become Bengals fans, or at least Joe Burrow-led Bengals fans. At some local bars, Bengals playoff appearances have resembled LSU game days, with people turning up in their purple and gold colors.
The Bengals “Who Dey” chant will just never sound right in the land of Who Dat. But maybe the team’s success with Burrow is a bit of catharsis for Louisiana football fans after a dreadful season here.
Now New Orleans bakeries have a knack for customizing to reflect football fate too. Bywater Bakery was quick on the draw after the infamous “NOLA no call” that sent the wrong team to the Super Bowl in 2019, with a black and gold king cake adorned with the prescient message: “We was robbed.”
So while we’re drafting in the wake of glory that is proceeding from Louisiana to the Super Bowl, let’s raise a piece of king cake and hope that a blown call befalls the Rams and seals the deal for our forever Bayou Bengal.
