Lafayette, Louisiana

We arrived here in Lafayette on Friday after driving a few hours west from New Orleans. Rather than get drawn into the larger, more adult-oriented Mardi Gras celebration of New Orleans, we’d been told that Lafayette would be more family-friendly. It would also give us a chance to explore more of the Cajun and Creole culture. The rural Louisiana tradition for Mardi Gras is different from that of the Big Easy (New Orleans). In the country, riders group up into a traveling parade and go from farm to farm asking for something to add (usually a chicken) to the local Gumbo. Masks are used and young men from the local farms joining the ride must catch the chicken as a symbolic rite of passage to show they are now able to get food on the table for their own future family. Lafayette leans more toward the floats and bead-throwing parades of New Orleans but the rural activities are also visible and quite accessible. What’s not obvious until traveling through this area is the strong influence on family and community that is so pervasive. It has roots in a strong Roman Catholic foundation from the French who were forced out of Nova Scotia a few hundred years ago, some finding their way to Louisiana where, as a very hardy people, they set up their new home in a place they called Acadiana. Forced to support each other as a means to survival their large, extended families and tightly knit communities also enjoyed a strong tradition of music and dancing. Over the past few days we’ve been enjoying the welcoming, family-friendly dance floors where a healthy beat of Cajun and Zydeco music gets everyone hopping – including us – from very old men and women to youngsters being coached by family, friends and neighbors through basic two-step dancing. Rose danced twice the other night with women who simply asked her to join them because she was showing an obvious interest (and delight) in the music. We went for a family bike ride on Saturday. The ride was unfortunate for a flat tire (Denise), a pedal that went flying off while crossing a road (Ruth), and poorly designed roads for bike riding, but we did enjoy some very local experiences. On our short ride, we passed at least 4-5 groups of people who ALL waved or hollered a greeting as we went by. One woman hung out her passenger side window while waiting at the traffic light (as we crossed in front of her) to commend us on doing a “family ride”. Noticing we had 2 girls she held up 5 fingers and explained that she had five daughters herself. The conversation would likely have continued except that the light turned green and her driver pulled away. These Acadians seem to be a very friendly and open people who live out loud and who hold the family unit in high esteem. In this whole Acadiana region, symbolism and traditions continue strongly. This is evidenced by the Mardi Gras celebrations that go back centuries in the old World. Many of these now local traditions are built from a strange concoction of Roman Catholic faith and practice blended with Pagan ritual, Voodoo beliefs and a healthy dose of farmers’ pragmatism. And then there is Cajun food… A strong influence of French, Spanish and African American cultures weighs into the local cuisine - cultures that all figure strongly in the history of the area. Combined with the relative abundance of food that can be drawn from the bayous – crawfish (fresh water crayfish), catfish, oysters, and alligator plus the farming staples of beans, rice, chicken and pork – and a healthy dose of farm style cooking, you begin to understand what Cajun food might be. Add a hot climate where meat and food traditionally would not keep well except through a generous amount of salting or by using a heavy hand of seasoning to mask the rotting meat taste and you have the basis for very tasty Cajun food. From these relatively humble beginnings Cajun food was practical and filling but was never destined to be a world cuisine. Its distinctive flavorings and key ingredients set it apart as the deliciously unique food it is today. But it is the strong cultural influences of music, dancing and community-centered life that raise Cajun food above simple body nourishment to make the whole experience a distinctive and truly soul-nourishing one. So far we have met with two locals – Denise and Dave – who introduced us to our first Cajun meal and the dance floor that makes up part of the restaurant. As Cajun’s they are (thankfully) coaching us in the food and culture of the region. We’ve also caught the tail-end of one daytime parade and we plan to participate again on Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday). We have visited the Museum of Natural History, Acadian Cultural Center, and Vermilionville – a 23 acre Cajun/Creole Heritage and Folklife Park providing an historic recreation of early Cajun/Creole life and village, with (of course) great Cajun food and (of course) a music hall pounding with live Zydeco music and dancing. This is a fascinating part of America and we are only just coming to understand that the French influences and history we discovered in Quebec City, Canada are also at play here in southern Louisiana!