Tasting the Boudin King Cake
A new version of the Mardi Gras treat incorporates Cajun delicacies from South Louisiana.
Taste of Tabasco in Iberia Parish
Visit the home of Tabasco at Avery Island, then hop on a new food tour that celebrates the Cajun pepper sauce.
Boudin in the News This Week
South Louisiana's rice and meat-stuffed sausage casing made its way into two major publications this week. The Wall Street Journal covered three towns' boudin war, while Gourmet named Lafayette's Boudin Cook-Off a Top 10 Food Festival.
Bourdain's Cajun Country
On August 29, The Travel Channel's "No Reservations" in Cajun Country episode aired. Much to the delight of Cajuns and natives of South Louisiana, chef and TV personality Anthony Bourdain revealed to the rest of the world why our region is such a special place - and why so many people visit and never leave. Bourdain ate his way from New Orleans to Eunice and back, and while live tweeting during the episode wrote, "I'm struck dumb looking at the food on my own damn show."
Boudin On Display
On their blog earlier this month, Louisiana's St. Landry Parish did a post about the Southern Foodways Alliance's new boudin exhibit. Never before have we heard the words "boudin" and "exhibit" in the same sentence. South Louisianans just eat tons of the rice and pork mixture stuffed in a sausage casing and don't always think about where it comes from. But starting tomorrow, visitors to the Prairie Acadian Cultural Center in Eunice can find out. "Boudin: The Traveling Exhibit" includes oral histories of storied Louisiana boudin makers to tell the tale of one of South Louisiana's most iconic foods. Funded in part by The McIlhenny Co., makers of Tabasco, the project also includes The Southern Boudin Trail created by the SFA with close to 50 oral histories available online. See "Boudin" through July 23 at the Acadian Cultural Center, open Tuesday-Friday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Afterwards, pick up a link at one of the shops featured, like Best Stop or Mowata Store. Photo Credit: St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission
Anthony Bourdain in Cajun Country
by Erin Z. Bass A few weeks ago, I heard Travel Channel star and chef Anthony Bourdain was going to be in Lafayette filming for his show, "No Reservations." I didn't know exactly when he'd be here, but figured the local rumor mill would start to churn once he arrived. On Friday afternoon, a few people tweeted they'd seen him at Tsunami Sushi downtown. It didn't take long for y'all to wonder why Anthony Bourdain was eating sushi instead of a poboy or bowl of gumbo, and he actually replied to a few tweets saying he'd only had a beer. To further clarify, he and his crew were staying in the lofts above the restaurant, and Tsunami does serve a crawfish roll. There was no need to worry though. On Bourdain's agenda for Saturday was an all-day boucherie at Lakeview Park in Eunice that included the 6 a.m. butchering of a pig. For those of you not from South Louisiana, a boucherie is an old tradition of making use of all parts of a pig before there were freezers and refrigerators. In communities like Eunice and Mamou, west of Lafayette, neighbors got together and spent the day killing and cleaning the hog,
Boudin For A Day
South Louisiana's Boudin Cookoff takes a day to celebrate a regional specialty. by Erin Z. Bass If you're looking for boudin paradise, travel no further than South Louisiana. Sure, the region's known for its crawfish, gumbo and etouffees, but a lesser known delicacy that comes stuffed in a sausage casing represents Cajun cooking at its best. Defined as a mixture of cooked rice, meat, onions, green onions and seasonings that is pulverized in a meat grinder and then stuffed into a sausage casing, a link of boudin is the snack of choice in the region. You can find it at gas stations, mom and pop restaurants, meat markets, the grocery store. Boudin is great with eggs for breakfast, as a side dish or with the stuffing taken out and formed into a ball and then fried. And now, once a year, this regional specialty gets its own day to celebrate. Lafayette, Louisiana's, third-annual Boudin Cookoff took place October 16 this year. Twenty-one of the area's top boudin shops (one from as far as Pensacola, Florida) came out to Parc Sans Souci with their steamers and fryers, vying for the title of "Boudin Master." For 50 cents a taste, attendees had the opportunity
Boudin, 24 HRS
by Lydia Ondrusek As we pass the hand-painted sign offering Cajun delicacies round-the-clock God- wry photographer- shines clear shadowless light on a weedy cathedral, just 14 miles outside Opelousas, Louisiana. Look- a stand of green Marys support their broken sons, near offerings of car trash left by the faithless on a muddy grass altar. The standing trees, patient, still cradle their fallen, still hope for resurrection, 14 miles outside Opelousas as the heron flies. Lydia Ondrusek lives in Richardson, Texas, and often writes about Southern experiences and locations. She has had fiction and poetry published online and in print since 2008 in a diverse range of publications that include Flash Fiction Online and Falling Star Magazine. Her upcoming work will appear in GUD and Apex.