Cajuns, Creoles, and Tabasco Sauce

Avery Island, Louisiana is the home of world-famous Tabasco sauce and the McIlhennys. Avery Island is a very special and unique location in its own right, having been transformed into a wonderful botanical treasure and bird refuge. Their website shows how Tabasco sauce is made. Also, their website does a pretty good job of defining Cajuns and Creoles, and explaining the essential differences between these two cultures that so greatly impact southern Louisiana. It is interesting to realize some common names down here are not Acadian in origin, speaking to the influences of French Creole, Spanish, German, and other early settlers.

You Live in Cajun Country when...

• You find it difficult to give directions without saying "up the bayou," "down the bayou," "across the bayou," and similar
• Roadkill generally consists of armadillos, alligators, nutrias, ‘possums and ‘coons…all of which are tasty with the right amount of Creole seasoning
• You go to a local restaurant, and the choices include crawfish etouffee, shrimp gumbo, crab bisque, and jambalaya
• You think that the four basic food groups are broiled seafood, boiled seafood, fried seafood and beer
• Your “camp” consists of a trailer house perched on 15-ft stilts overlooking a bayou
• You look at your barometer each morning and wonder if it is reading accurately or if it is just stuck on 100% humidity
• You are a distinct minority if your name doesn’t end with …in, …on, …ois, …ot, …iot, …ert, …et, …ete, …ette, …ene, …nge, …ngue, …oux, …eaux, …ier, …aire, or …ard and have a distinctive French sound to it. Examples: Herbert (A-bear), Richard (ree-shard), Breaux (broh).
• Your next-door neighbor’s dog is named either Fideaux or Gator bait, and the bumper sticker on his car says, “Geaux Tigers!”
• Until you left home, you thought Mardi Gras was a national holiday.
• You understand the difference between Zatarains, Zapps and Zydeco. Under Zydeco, check out some of the Musicians at the bottom of the page. One example: Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band.

Hurricane on the Bayou

As everyone knows, Hurricane Katrina was life-changing event in southern Louisiana. Images of New Orleans under water are some of the most vivid. I had the opportunity to go into New Orleans several times to assist in the clean up, and will share a few of the images I captured in future posts. Houma was just far enough to the west, actually about 60 miles southwest, to have been spared from the extreme wind and water damage that occurred especially on the east side of New Orleans and the coastal areas of MS and AL. Hurricane Rita impacted Houma more than did Katrina, with hurricane force winds occurring as nearby as Morgan City, and coastal flooding severely impacting Houma on the SE side of the Intercoastal Waterway that intersects the city, and points further south in Terrebonne Parish. The sugarcane belt was far more impacted by Rita than Katrina, a sizeable portion of it being severely flooded with water high in salt content.

Judy and I were invited to attend a preview of the IMAX film, "Hurricane on the Bayou," prior to its general opening in New Orleans. Amazingly, much of the footage of this film occurred before Hurricane Katrina, with the anticipation that something like a Katrina was well within the realm of possibilities because of coastal erosion and a relentless loss of vital wetlands. Ironically, from the perspective of the producers, the timing of Hurricane Katrina was almost as though it were on queue. This film is a must-see, if you have any interest whatsoever in Bayou Country and the potential far-reaching impact of not taking decisive action to protect Louisiana's wetlands.