Prize-winning Crawfish Étouffée

EUNICE

Got Crawfish Cravings?
Since the debut of crawfish étouffée in the early 1920s at the Hebert Hotel in Breaux Bridge, the savory dish has stirred debates that have evolved into tribal feuds. “There’s a different recipe for every five miles,” says Chef John Folse, an advocate of adding tomato sauce to étouffée (an objectionable offense among blond roux purists like Chef Paul Prudhomme). Cajun Chef “I-gar-un-tee” Justin Wilson’s version closely resembles Hebert’s original recipe (no roux or tomatoes). Crawfish lovers can sample an extensive variety of styles from competing professionals during the World Championship Crawfish Étouffée Cook-Off (March 23; etouffeecookoff.org).

ABBEVILLE

New Amazon Jobs in Abbeville
Slated to open later this year, Amazon is “immediately hiring” people “for all positions” for its new last-mile facility in Abbeville, “both during construction and once the facility is completed” (amazon.com).

STATEWIDE

For Budding Photographers
If you enjoy capturing Acadiana’s vibrant blooms through the lens, entries are being sought for LSU AgCenter’s 2025 Get It Growing calendar. Approximately 40 photos will be selected for the popular gardening almanac that showcases professional monthly gardening tips. High-resolution digital images (anything 300 DPI or over) must be submitted online by March 31, 2024. Limited to 25 images per person. (LSUAgCenter.com/GetItGrowingCalendar).

NEW IBERIA

Books on the Bayou
Fans of author James Lee Burke novels will have the opportunity to explore the hometown of his most beloved character, Dave Robicheaux, during New Iberia’s 8th annual Books Along the Teche Literary Festival (April 5-7; booksalongthetecheliteraryfestival.com) featuring notable authors, poets, historians and chefs. Tickets are required for the Great Southern Writer keynote presentation by Natalie Baszile, author of “Queen Sugar.” Season Eight of the eponymous TV series (based on Baszile’s novel) debuts October 1 on OMV Network (oprah.com/app/own-tv.html).

The Art of Plein Air
More than 170 artists from 25 states, Canada and the Philippines are competing for $10,000 in cash prizes during the 10th Annual Shadows-on-the-Teche Plein Air Competition (March 9-16). Artists will be painting en plein air in several designated Acadiana towns for one week, culminating with a juried exhibition and prizes at the Shadows (ShadowsOnTheTeche.org).

Mais Bien Sûr!
According to a recent global survey of American accents by WordTips (with a little help from Hugging Face AI algorithm that analyzed how positively Twitter users talk about 165 accents in 104 countries worldwide), Cajun and New Orleans accents rank among the top 10 favorites. New Orleans took the number 1 spot for the favorite American accent. Cajun accents came in at number 10 (word.tips). Talk about!

Poetic Visions
To celebrate Easter (March 31) with a special gift for Francophones, consider giving artist Melissa Bonin’s “When Bayous Speak, Lorsque Les Bayous Parlent,” a beautiful new coffee table art book showcasing a collection of the New Iberia native’s dream-like paintings and bilingual poetry, the first of its kind in Louisiana. The limited first edition, 160-page hardcover tome ($80) includes 40 spot varnished color art images spanning 20 years of the contemporary landscape artist’s career (melissabonin.com/store/book).

HOUMA

Chasing Chickens at the Boucherie
Get out your dancing shoes for the 4th annual Bayou Terrebonne Boucherie (March 2) featuring a Cajun fais do do, mounds of pork sizzling in smokers, a white-bean cook-off and the zany Cajun Cup Olympics. Four-person teams compete to win the cup with a chicken chase, a keg toss, duck calls, pirogue races, axe throwing and nail hammering, courtesy of Bayou Terrebonne Distillers. Created to attract folks to downtown Houma (facebook.com/bayouterrebonnedistillers).