Author: Illustration by Sara Willia

Storytelling: A Fading Pastime

“Dans ce temps-ça, ils onviont pas beaucoup des affaires à faire d’autre chose que s’assir et conter des contes.” (“In those days, they didn’t have many things to do besides sit down and tell stories.”)   Between the time that…

Made in Louisiana: A Distinction that Deserves a Label

I was listening to the radio the other day, an old program from the 1960s hosted by the late Dudley LeBlanc: “Les Nouvelles de la Semaine” (“The News of the Week”).  Among a certain generation of Louisianians, “Cousin Dud,” state…

“Forest Bathing,” It’s good for what ails you

There’s an old saying in Louisiana, which goes: “Février est pas bâtard,” meaning (very) roughly “February isn’t half-hearted.” If that’s only a little less clear than troubled water, there’s another expression, quite similar, said still in France: “L’hiver est pas…

The Caribbean Connection

While the Louisiana winter is a sometimes pleasant, sometimes harsh reminder that we are indeed a part of the North American continent, and while, culturally, we do share many historical connections with our French cousins far to the north, as…

Filé’d, Slimy or French Gumbo?

In the sometimes petty, but often heated, squabbles that plague Louisiana’s cultural landscape, the culinary domain is often hotly contested territory.  Most of these disagreements arise ultimately from the very thing that makes French Louisiana unique: the diversity of the…

“Doing the month of August”

In the north of Old France, in Normandy, Picardy, and Wallonia, there is an expression that many old country dwellers still use even today: instead of speaking of faire récolte [harvesting crops], to describe this culmination of the year’s work,…

Pedro

One of the stereotypes associated with Cajuns is our love of card games. It’s not entirely undeserved, as it’s undeniably a popular pastime. We play alls the same games that we find everywhere in the United States, but the game…

World Acadian Congress 2024

Acadians from around the world, their descendants and their friends are invited to gather next summer for the 7th World Acadian Congress. This great celebration revolves around August 15, the National Day of Acadia, a date chosen in 1881 to…

French Cuisine in Acadiana

World-renowned French cuisine is almost entirely the product of one man, Auguste Escoffier, who in the 19th century invented many of the dishes associated with what we know as haute cuisine, the brigade system that divides tasks in the kitchen…

Dog Hill

In south Lake Charles, on Common Street, there was a neighborhood the likes of which we may never see again. An exception now, tight-knit communities, by necessity and choice, were pretty much the norm back then. Sometimes linked by kinship,…

Lafayette, we are here

On January 17, 1823, by separating it from Saint Martin Parish, the Louisiana legislature created Lafayette Parish. Named in honor of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette, "the hero of two worlds", the parish will celebrate its bicentennial throughout…

The Grègue is Hot

With the proliferation of cafés on every street corner, young people would find it hard to believe that coffee in the United States once had a very bad reputation. It was practically undrinkable. Anywhere you ordered a cup of coffee,…

Bluegrass and Bayous

Before setting foot in Acadiana, I knew I loved it. In 2011, I watched the “Cajun Country” episode of “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.” Bourdain takes part in a boucherie with Toby Rodriguez. At the time I was living in Texas…

The Restaurants of my Heart

The comfort that comes with the memory of the good smells and flavors that emanated from the kitchens of our childhood is often the source of deep happiness and creative inspiration. The French novelist Marcel Proust started his masterful work,…

Jungle Boogie

Like any sensible person equipped with functioning tastebuds, I love Louisiana cooking. The fusion of diverse ingredients and pepper-driven heat draws me like a moth to flame. During a span of seven years living on the Gulf Coast, I especially…

Habitats of Humanity

I’ve heard it a thousand times when someone leans in after learning I am a custom residential designer: “I always wanted to be an architect! Like Art Vandelay, you know, from Seinfeld.” This declaration is typically followed with an explanation…

Calling Acadiana Home

The waves of immigration that contributed to our culture in southern Louisiana did not cease with the end of the Grand Dérangement or with the last ship to transport enslaved Africans. More recently, the arrival of Vietnamese refugees or Spanish…