Clear skies. Low around 50F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph..
Clear skies. Low around 50F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph.
CIA-trained Lyle Broussard cooks up a variety of game-day treats in the Barstool Sportsbook at L’Auberge Resort and Casino.
Antoine’s Rex Room for private dining is the most elegant of the rooms in the restaurant.
The Cajun Kevin Po’Boy is a signature dish at the Little Big Cup in Arnaudville, Louisiana.
The main dining room at Antoine’s has an antique French flair.
The pastry crew at L’Auberge creates clever confections like tasty cookies and the totally edible chocolate skillet over the open candy fire.
Classic Café du Monde beignets, a type of French donut, are generously dusted with powdered sugar.
A traditional crawfish boil features crawfish, potatoes, corn and, sometimes, onions.
The dinner-plate-sized Muffy at Fertita’s makes more than a meal for one.
CIA-trained Lyle Broussard cooks up a variety of game-day treats in the Barstool Sportsbook at L’Auberge Resort and Casino.
Antoine’s Rex Room for private dining is the most elegant of the rooms in the restaurant.
The Cajun Kevin Po’Boy is a signature dish at the Little Big Cup in Arnaudville, Louisiana.
The main dining room at Antoine’s has an antique French flair.
The pastry crew at L’Auberge creates clever confections like tasty cookies and the totally edible chocolate skillet over the open candy fire.
Classic Café du Monde beignets, a type of French donut, are generously dusted with powdered sugar.
A traditional crawfish boil features crawfish, potatoes, corn and, sometimes, onions.
The dinner-plate-sized Muffy at Fertita’s makes more than a meal for one.
Here’s a quiz. Name the states with these nicknames: 1. The Last Frontier; 2. Empire State; 3. Grand Canyon State; 4. Sunshine State.
These are pretty definitive and easy to guess. How about Pelican State? Not satisfied with just one, this state also claims Sugar State and Creole State.
If you put these clues together and came up with Louisiana, good for you!. None of these Louisiana names resonate with me. For me, Louisiana is all about the food. I’ve eaten my way across the state.
My last article introduced you to Natchitoches Meat Pies. Here’s some more evidence that, for great taste, you can’t beat Louisiana.
A real tradition is the old-fashioned crawfish boil — a combination of crawfish, potatoes, and corn on the cob. There is a crawfish season which peaks right around March.
It’s worth making some calls to find a restaurant serving a traditional boil, which has to start with live crawfish.
There’s an art to eating crawfish. I only eat the tails. I haven’t been brave enough to suck the juices out of the heads, though some people do; others simply squeeze the juice onto the potatoes.
Plan to get messy. Shreveport’s Memorial weekend Mudbug Madness Festival is a prime time to celebrate the humble crawfish.
The Little Big Cup in Arnaudville presents the acme of crustacean cuisine with their signature dish, the Cajun Kevin Po’ Boy.
Toasted French bread towers are stuffed with Gulf shrimp, lump blue crab meat, crawfish tails and andouille sausage in a mixed pepper, Parmesan, butter and cream reduction.
For something completely different, try a Muffy at Fertitta’s Delicatessen in Shreveport. In the family since 1927, the deli began life as a grocery store which morphed into a deli, then sandwich shop.
The famous sandwich is a Sicilian riff on the classic New Orleans muffaletta. A plate-sized muffaletta bun is filled with a variety of meats and cheese and Sam Fertitta’s unique olive mix. Take a friend or get a doggy box, this is one big sandwich.
New Orleans, of course, can claim to be the Queen of Cuisine — so many things to choose from. I go for sentimentality. The summer I graduated from high school, my family went to New Orleans, and my dad took us to dinner at Antoine’s.
Founded in 1840, it’s now owned by the fifth generation of the founding family. This is where Oysters Rockefeller were invented in 1899 — a must order if only for tradition.
It’s said that the secret to the sauce has never been revealed. Another must for me is the Baked Alaska.
The main dining room at Antoine’s is starkly elegant — black bentwood chairs, white table cloths and white dishes, and antique light fixtures. The restaurant also has a number of private dining rooms.
The Rex Room, one of several named for Mardi Gras krewes, is positively royal in emerald green and gold with displays of krewe finery.
It’s also traditional, if touristy, to have coffee and beignets at the Café du Monde.
The beignets here are liberally sprinkled with powdered sugar – don’t wear black clothes!
In Cajun country, you may find the beignets stuffed with boudin. At Calla in Lake Charles, you can get them stuffed with blue crab meat.
Boudin, a sausage-like concoction, most commonly contains pork, liver, rice, onions, and seasonings and is stuffed into casings. You can find boudin many places — from restaurants to gas stations.
For a true artery-hardening twist, boudin is sometimes taken out of the casings, formed into balls, breaded and deep-fried.
Although widely available, I had some fine ones at B and C Seafood Market and Cajun Restaurant in Vacherie, on the Great River Road.
If you happen to be in Lafayette, book one of Marie Ducote’s Cajun Food Tours. You’ll hit five great spots in three hours. Different tours take you to different eateries.
The tour I took started with family-owned Johnson’s Boucaniere. In business since the 1930s, they smoke meats, barbecue and make their own boudin.
Our tour started early so this was our first food of the day, pulled pork stuffed grilled cheese sandwiches on buns, pressed and served with sides of Johnson’s homemade barbecue sauce.
What an eye-opener! At subsequent stops we tried fried shrimp po’ boys, beignets stuffed with boudin, gumbo and bread pudding. All this before lunch.
Lake Charles is another foodie mecca. L’Auberge Resort and Casino is not only a great place to stay and play, you’ll enjoy a variety of food options.
Barstool Sportsbook provides dishes created by Chef Lyle Broussard and a spot for sports betting. Other restaurants in L’Auberge specialize in Asian cuisine, steaks, seafood and comfort food.
Elsewhere in Lake Charles, for breakfast or lunch, try The Bekery for yummy baked goods, quiches, sandwiches and more.
Personally, I’m a hot dog junkie so I love Botsky’s — not your average doggery. Sure, you can get very traditional dogs, but choices here include Kobe beef dogs, duck dogs and alligator dogs.
Eating out is one of the best — and worst — parts of my job. As a Weight Watcher, Louisiana is a real challenge.
On my last visit, I gained five pounds in a week — and it was worth every ounce. If I had been asked to pick a nickname for the state — I know what it would be Louisiana: The Great Plate State.
• FYI: Quiz answers: 1. Alaska; 2. New York; 3. Arizona; 4. Florida
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