Homesick!
May.28, 2008 in
Other - Uncategorized
I don’t have as strong an attachment to “home” as a lot of people do; it’s part and parcel of growing up as a military brat. Mom’s folks were from south Louisiana, Cajun country, however - even though much of the bloodline were descendants of deserters from Napoleon’s army after the purchase - and I did spend my teens in north Louisiana, so that state’s in the running for “home” as far as I’m concerned.
This TV show, however, made me acutely homesick - and hungry. Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. Last night he took a tour of the U.S. Gulf Coast, where he ate nutria, squirrel, turducken, boudin, possum, raccoon, chitlins, and a few other regional specialties.
How do you cook a nutria? You start with a roux …
May 28th, 2008 at 11:04 am
My wife was from Houma, so I know what you mean. Unfortunately, she couldn’t cook and I had to do all the cooking. Luckily, her mother taught me to cook stuff like gumbo, etoufee, beans and rice, jambalaya, and all the other coonass foods. Although Cajun food is among the unhealthiest food on the planet, I still eat a lot of it.
What town in N. Louisiana did you live?
Jeff
May 28th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Shreveport. Went back there for college on my second go-round, when I got the degree. Almost all of the kin are between Natchitoches and I-10, with most south of Alec.
You know the difference between a coonass and a redneck? The Sabine River.
The Wifeykins never has picked up Cajun cooking, but she’s a great cook and baker, and she learned how to do Jawja Soul Food from her momma. I’ve got a funny story about the first time she met my sister (it involves food) that I’ll share later …
May 28th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Bill
I used to go to Louisiana Downs to make a deposit a couple times a year, and know Shreveport well. I like that Sabine River joke and will pass it along to my late wife’s family. Her coonass family covers the whole territory from Lake Charles to Houma, and all the way down to Grand Isle. I think everyone down there is related:)
Jeff
May 28th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Everyone down there IS related if you start doing the genealogy a little bit. My parents found out recently that they are fifth cousins. My mom is from Raceland, but she is half Italian, too.
The answer to how to cook everything down there is “well you start making a roux….”