Whether or not you’re a believer, you’ve probably heard a ghost story or two in your life. Ghostlore “encompasses tales of hauntings and ghosts that are a long-standing tradition in nearly every culture around the world” explains John “Pudd” Sharp,…
When I was young, I remember that, amidst the great variety of unfamiliar marchandises (“goods, merchandise”) that lined the shelves at the grocery store, there was one item in particular that would always sauter à la vue (“stand out”) to…
Edward Abbey (*1927-†1989), author and noted defender of America’s wilderness, once wrote that “the indoor life is the next best thing to premature burial.” As denizens of the twenty-first century, most of us spend the great majority of our time…
Beyond the incredible natural biodiversity of Louisiana’s wild places, beyond even the — as the naturalist Charles Darwin once wrote of life’s dizzying variety across the planet — “endless forms most beautiful” that make up the prairies, forests, and terres…
Langage (“language”) — whether spoken, written, signed, or merely thought — permeates every aspect of our daily lives. But while the course of an ordinary day brings us into contact with many hundreds of unique words, it is only very…
Do not thank the treater. Do not pay the treater, though you may leave a gift. Treatments cannot cross a body of water. These are just a few traditional guidelines when requesting traitement (treatment) from a traiteur, or faith healer.…
Louisiana’s musical landscape is extraordinarily rich and varied, and has been since the beginning: the land between the Pearl River and the Sabine has long been de la terre fertile (”fertile ground”) for the growth of a variety of rich…
According to the Lafayette Music Census conducted in 2024, the economic activity of Lafayette’s music sector generates $13.2 million annually in income, with 32% of survey respondents’ annual income coming from music. That may sound impressive — and it is…
Mémère (“Grandma”) ran a kitchen that in many ways straddled two different eras: sometimes, arriving at her house for le dîner de dimanche (“the Sunday lunch”) that followed morning mass, the deep, almost palpable aroma of strong coffee that seized…
Tout les temps en temps (“Every now and then”) — about once every ten years here in South Louisiana — we’re all reminded of a fact that is otherwise easy to forget or ignore: a hurricane passes, the electricity goes…
“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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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,…
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 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,…
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…
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…
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…
