Betty and John “Black” Chenier know about growing produce — from common sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and collards, to the more exotic, like kabocha squash, bok choy, napa cabbage, and roselle hibiscus, which Betty dries to make tea. 

For over 30 years the couple has been growing specialty crops on 10 acres of their 40-acre farm north of Opelousas. I first met the Cheniers about 25 years ago at the Baton Rouge Farmers’ Market, where their vendor stand always seemed the most crowded. I would make a beeline there early, to pick out the biggest melons. I would also snatch up honey and eggs and whatever unusual vegetables they happened to bring along.

When I recently toured their St. Landry Parish farm, the visit started out with me, Betty, and a sleepy Australian shepherd named Brandy easing into a 4-seater side-by-side. On our way to look at mustard greens and cabbages we trundled past a greenhouse and a row of fig trees. Further down the dirt road sat a large chicken house. A herd of 30 cattle grazed in a lush fenced field.  

Betty told me that she and Black have been married 40 years. “Black is from Plaisance,” she said, “and he grew up in a family of 22 children. He had to learn how to grow things. That’s the only way his parents could feed so many mouths.” 

Betty, originally from Oberlin, spent 16 years doing office work, then convinced her husband that she’d be more productive and happier growing vegetables. “I got tired of dressing up every day. I wanted to dig in the dirt,” she said “That’s when we bought this land. And I made this my full-time job.”

For 43 years, Black worked in private industry. “But with every spare minute he had, he’d work on our farm,” Betty said. “And he just retired. Nowadays, all he does is work with me.”

The Chenier farm has rich sandy loam soil, which the couple plows into rows irrigated by drip lines. A few of their summer staple crops include snap beans, peppers, cucumbers, corn, and white, Yukon, purple, and new potatoes, and some 500-600 tomato plants. “In season, we pick up to 1,000 pounds of tomatoes a day,” Betty said. They also plant okra, including longhorn. “Longhorn is a variety the old Creoles and Cajuns know. It’s good in gumbo and smothered.” 

Some of this year’s fall and winter-maturing crops are beets, cauliflower, spinach, turnips, green onions, acorn squash, broccoli, and 2 acres of sweet potatoes. Then there’s the unexpected, such as rows of different-colored pumpkins, and arugula, red mustard greens, and mizuna, a stunning Japanese mustard green that’s good for salad. 

Black laughs that he lets Betty buy any seed that strikes her fancy. Betty says she loves studying seed catalogs and ordering unusual things. “I also like planting with different cultures in mind,” she says. “And I always have an eye on nutrition.” She stresses that consumers are health-conscious these days. “I research what’s inside the vegetables I plant. I like talking vitamins and minerals with my customers.” 

This past year the Cheniers faced challenges from coyotes, which ravaged persimmons and their celebrated watermelons. October’s unusually early frost killed plants that should have produced another month.

The Cheniers also have the universal agricultural concerns of high fuel and fertilizer costs and a lack of labor. Fortunately, they have a teenaged grandson who helps out. “It’s hard to keep hired help on a farm like this,” Betty says. “Weeding, picking, and packing by hand is hard work.”

The day ended with Betty and Black sending me off with several bunches of Florida Broadleaf mustard greens, a couple of bags of Evangeline sweet potatoes, a Cinderella pumpkin, and a teardrop-shaped variety of squash called red kuri. If you’d like to purchase some of their spectacular produce, stop by Baton Rouge’s Saturday Downtown Farmers’ Market. They’ll also sell you bulk orders directly from their Opelousas farm. (phone: 337-945-6944, address: 248 Chenier Road, Opelousas)
 
 
Do you have a Louisiana agriculture story or a recipe you’d like to share? Contact me at noblescynthia@gmail.com.
 
Cynthia Nobles is the cookbook editor for LSU Press and the author/co-author of several historical cookbooks, including A Confederacy of Dunces Cookbook, The Delta Queen Cookbook, and The Fonville Winans Cookbook.
 
 
Thai Winter Squash Soup
Makes 1 quart
 
A 1½ to 2-pound red kuri, butternut, or acorn squash
½ cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon butter
3 cups chicken broth
½ cup tomato sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon chili paste or crushed red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lime juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
 
1. To prepare squash, preheat oven to 375°F. Cut squash in half, remove seeds, and place halves, cut side up, in a foil-lined shallow baking dish. Cover with more foil and bake until squash flesh pierces easily, 30-50 minutes. Cool, discard any liquid, and scoop out pulp. 
2. Sauté onion in butter in a large heavy saucepan until onion is translucent. Add squash, broth, tomato sauce, garlic, ginger, honey, and chili paste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook, uncovered, 10 minutes.
3. Puree mixture in a blender or food processor. Pour back into saucepan and bring back to a boil. Remove from heat, and stir in lime juice and cilantro. Serve soup hot. 
 
 
 
Broccoli, Bacon, and Cranberry Salad
Makes 6-8 servings
 
This is my go-to salad for large gatherings. The recipe doubles easily and can be made a day ahead. 
 
1 large head broccoli, cut into small, bite-sized florets 
10 strips bacon, fried crisp and crumbled
1 small red onion, chopped
1 cup dried cranberries or raisins
½ cup toasted pecans or walnuts
½ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar (more if you want it sweeter)
 
In a large bowl, toss together broccoli, bacon, onion, cranberries, and pecans. Make dressing by mixing together mayonnaise, vinegar, and sugar. Pour dressing over salad and mix gently. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight. Serve cold.
 
 
Mustard Greens Gratin
Makes 6 servings
 
Any mustard green bitterness miraculously disappears in this holiday-worthy side dish. 
 
1 pound washed, stemmed, and roughly chopped fresh mustard greens (1 packed gallon)
3 large eggs, beaten
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt, black pepper, and cayenne
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, divided
½ cup minced onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
12 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
12 ounces cream cheese, cut into 1-inch chunks
4 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
1 cup panko bread crumbs
 
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Oil a shallow 2½-quart baking dish and set aside. To dry the mustard greens, give them a whirl in a salad spinner, or blot them thoroughly with paper towels. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, Parmesan, ½ teaspoon salt, and black and cayenne peppers to taste. Set aside.
3. In a large Dutch oven set over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon melted butter and the onion. Cook 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic. Add the mushrooms, season lightly with salt and pepper, and sauté until mushrooms are cooked through and have released their liquid, 5-6 minutes. Add the greens and stir until they are completely wilted, 3-4 minutes. Lower heat and add the cream cheese chunks and stir until melted. Remove pot from heat. 
4. Add the greens mixture and the crumbled bacon into the egg mixture and stir to combine. (If mixture seems dry add a little milk or cream.) Pour into the prepared baking dish. Mix the bread crumbs with the remaining 2 tablespoons melted butter and sprinkle on top. Bake until crumbs are golden brown, 35-40 minutes. Cool at least 10 minutes before serving. 
 
 
Walnut Sweet Potato Cookies
Makes 3 dozen
 
These spicy, cake-like cookies would be a great addition to your Christmas cookie platter.
 
2½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
¾ teaspoon iodized salt
1¼ sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup light brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup cooked, mashed sweet potato
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts
 
1. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, ground ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, use medium electric mixer speed to cream together butter and sugars until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, scraping down sides and beating well after each addition. Add sweet potato and vanilla, and beat on medium speed 1 minute. Stir in walnuts.
3. Gently stir in flour mixture until it is completely absorbed. Chill dough at least ½ hour.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Drop chilled dough by 1-inch balls set 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheet. (Refrigerate dough between batches.) Bake until just brown around the edges, 12-14 minutes. Remove cookies to a rack and cool completely. Keeps in an air-tight container at room temperature up to 1 week. 

For a bit of Napa Valley right here in Louisiana, jump in your car and visit the tasting room, winery, and vineyards at Landry Vineyards in West Monroe. 

Jeff and Libby Landry have been growing wine grapes for 22 years. Throughout that time, Jeff has not only learned how to coax vines to produce in Louisiana’s challenging climate, but he’s also mastered the winemaking ropes. The result of his labor is an impressive portfolio of 24 dry and semi-sweet whites and reds, and a few ports. Some red wines, such as an elegant Cabernet Franc and a fruity Petite Sirah, are French oak-finished and full-bodied, and stand up to comparables costing twice the price. 

The Landrys started their business slowly. In 1999, they bought 2 acres of farmland in the southeast Louisiana community of Folsom. “We wanted our 4 sons to gain an exposure to agriculture,” Jeff said.
“I had a vision for growing a small-acreage commodity. And I wanted to refine a product from it to sell directly to customers.” So, he and Libby began by growing a disease-resistant, French-American hybrid white wine grape, Blanc Du Bois, that they planned to sell to nearby Pontchartrain Vineyards. 

​The couple quickly learned that growing grapes is expensive. “It costs $20,000 in labor and materials to get 1 acre in production,” Jeff says. Each growing season is called a “leaf,” and it’s not until the “third leaf” that vines produce a successful harvest. “When we finally had grapes,” Jeff said of the first 10 marketable tons they had proudly raised, “Pontchartrain didn’t buy them. With all those grapes on our hands, we decided to make our own wines.”

Libby scrambled to find winemaking equipment, and she came up with a crusher destemmer, a press, and an old dairy tank they used for fermentation. From their barn they made their first batch in 2001, and they were licensed as a Louisiana Native Winery in 2002. In those early days, they paid Amato’s Winery in Independence one dollar per bottle for processing. They sold their first 6,000-bottle batch of Blanc Du Blanc at Farmers Markets. 

Then came Hurricane Katrina, which may have been a blessing in disguise. In the storm’s chaotic aftermath, Jeff and Libby moved their family to where his brother was living, just south of West Monroe, and where rolling hills and decreased precipitation are more favorable for a successful vineyard. “The weather up here is great for growing grapes,” said Jeff. “And it hardly ever gets too cold. Sometimes when big fronts come through, they seem to go all around us.”

He points out that West Monroe’s soil, too, is ideal. “It’s all sandy loam. Between the soil and the hills, we don’t have a problem with drainage.”

Although Landry Vineyards’ grapes are fungus resistant, Jeff does have a spray program. Naturally, grapes are irresistible to predators, especially raccoons, birds, and squirrels. Netting is a good pest deterrent on slow-growing red grapes. But white grape canes eventually grow through netting. “For white grapes,” says Jeff, “we use recorded sounds. That does a good job of scaring away birds.” 

Depending on grape variety, harvest begins in late July and ends at the end of September. Until five years ago, grapes were cut by hand. Now the Landrys harvest using a machine that uses fans to automatically take out bad fruit. “Since we started harvesting mechanically,” Jeff says, “we’re seeing a big improvement in quality.”

Nowadays, the Landrys grow grapes on 16 acres of their manicured 50-acre site. They produce 50-70 tons of grapes per year, including Blanc Du Bois, the black-skinned Lenoir/Black Spanish, and Crimson Cabernet, which produces full-bodied wines. Since so many premium wine grapes don’t grow well in Louisiana, they purchase grape juice from California for most of their hand-crafted, barrel aged red wines. 

Landry Vineyards produces 200,000 bottles of wine a year, and they are aged and bottled on site. In addition to their premium oak-aged line of reds, a few labels include a light, semi-dry Rosé, a semi-sweet Blackberry Merlot, a caramel-woodsy dessert wine called Louisiana Heat, and their popular smooth and fruity white called Blanc Du Bois Dry. 

You can find the Landrys’ wines at over 640 Louisiana locations. If you visit Landry Vineyards, expect to find a modern winery with a first-rate tasting room that’s open Monday-Saturday. You can schedule Saturday tours of the vineyard, cellar, winery, crush pad, and bottling facility. Several cottages and camper sites are available for rent. The Landrys also host a wildly popular spring and fall series of outdoor music concerts. 

Address: 5699 New Natchitoches, Road, West Monroe, Louisiana, 71292. You can contact them through their website at landryvineyards.com, or call at 318-557-9050.
 


Blanc Du Bois BBQ Shrimp and Cauliflower
Makes 4 servings (Adapted from a recipe by Libby Landry of Landry Vineyards)
 
This recipe calls for a cup of Landry Vineyards’ Blanc Du Bois dry white wine. The term blanc du bois in French means ‘white of the wood,’ which nicely describes this wine’s light and smooth profile — fruit and honeysuckle forward, with a hint of wood. It’s perfect with seafood dishes, so be sure to serve the rest of the bottle with your meal.
 
1 stick butter
1 tablespoon chopped fresh garlic
1 large onion, chopped or sliced
1 large bell pepper, sliced
1 large head cauliflower, broken into bite-sized pieces
3 large banana peppers, sliced
3 bay leaves
1 cup Landry Vineyards Blanc Du Bois dry white wine
1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce
½ cup bottled Italian salad dressing
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Juice of 1 lemon
½ teaspoon dried oregano, or 1 teaspoon fresh
¼ teaspoon dried thyme, or ½ teaspoon fresh
Creole seasoning, to taste
1½ pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
For serving: French bread or rice
 
1. In a Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium-high, then sauté the garlic 1 minute. Add onion and sauté 1 minute. Stir in bell pepper and sauté until garlic is caramelized, until the edges have a golden color, about 2-3 more minutes.
2. Stir in cauliflower, banana peppers, and bay leaves. Add Blanc Du Bois wine, barbecue sauce, Italian dressing, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, oregano, thyme and Creole seasoning. Stir well and cook until cauliflower is just tender, 3-5 minutes.
3. Add shrimp and cook until they are curled and pink, 2-3 minutes. Serve in bowls with French bread or hot cooked rice.
 
 
Mushroom and Wine Smothered Pork Chops
Makes 4 servings (Adapted from a recipe by Libby Landry of Landry Vineyards)
 
Libby says that this dish tastes even better the next day, after the flavors have soaked thoroughly into the meat.
 
4 (¾ to 1-inch-thick) bone-in pork chops (can substitute chicken breasts)
Salt and black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil 
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 large onion, chopped
1 (4-ounce) can mushrooms, drained, or ½ cup sliced fresh
1 cup Landry Vineyards Blanc du Bois white wine
1 (10.5-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup strips of red, green, or yellow bell pepper (optional)
¼ cup chopped parsley
¼ cup chopped green onions
For serving: rice, pasta, or steamed vegetables
 
 
1. Blot the pork chops dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Set aside. Place a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high and heat the olive oil. Brown both sides of the pork chops well. Transfer the pork chops to a platter and cover with foil. Save the drippings in the pot.  
2. Lower the heat to medium and melt the butter in the pan drippings. Lightly brown the garlic, about 1 minute. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 6 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms. Add the white wine, bring the mixture to a boil, and simmer 1 minute. Add mushroom soup, optional bell pepper, and the parsley, green onions, and black pepper to taste. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil, then remove from heat.
3. Place the browned pork chops and any accumulated juices back into the skillet with the sauce. Cook over low heat, covered, until pork is completely cooked through, about 20 minutes. Serve warm with rice, pasta, or steamed vegetables.
 
 
 
Italian Wine Cookies
Makes 4 dozen
 
These crisp, rustic cookies are perfect with a glass of port or cup of coffee. If you’re not a fan of anise, leave it out. 
 
1 cup Landry Vineyards Crimson Cabernet or Bayoutage Red Blend Wine
¾ cup canola oil
1 tablespoon or so of anise seed, ground or finely crushed in a Ziploc bag, optional
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon iodized salt
1 large egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
 
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl, mix together the wine, oil, as much anise as you like, vanilla, and lemon rind. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Pour the wine mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a spoon until well combined.
3. For each cookie, pinch off 1 tablespoon dough and roll pieces into 5-inch logs. Pinch the ends together to form a circle. Place cookies 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheet. Brush tops with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until brown on the bottom and slightly hard on top, 25-30 minutes. Cool a few minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. 
 
 
Blueberry and Wine Sorbet
Makes 1 quart
 
Wine not only adds flavor, but it acts like antifreeze and keeps sorbet from freezing rock solid.
 
½ cup sugar
½ cup water
2 pints fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed and strained lemon juice
¾ cup chilled Landry Vineyards Sweet Red or Blueberry Merlot Semi-Sweet wine
 
1. In a saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil and stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and cool a few minutes. 
2. Place sugar mixture into a blender. Add blueberries to the blender and puree. Strain, pressing hard on the solids, and discard blueberry skins. Stir in lemon juice and chilled wine and chill until cold. 
3. Process blueberry mixture in an ice cream freezer according to manufacturer’s directions. Store covered in the freezer at least 8 hours before serving.

Story, photos and recipes by Cynthia Nobles

Every once in a while, I come across a bottled seasoning sauce that tastes better than anything I can make from scratch. Leonard’s Carolina BBQ Finishing Sauce & Marinade is one such time-saving gem.  

Surprisingly, Leonard’s Carolina sauce is made right here in Louisiana. Chris Leonard is from the western part of North Carolina, but his mother grew up in Lafayette. About 9 years ago he moved to Lafayette to look for work in the oil business. 

​“That plan didn’t pan out,” Chris says. “So I worked on an MBA at the University of Lafayette. And I fell in love with the region.” He also fell in love with fellow MBA student, Camille Autin, who became his business partner and fiancée. (The two are getting married this November.)

It was during the 2020 pandemic that the homebound couple entertained friends and wowed them with this new (to Louisiana) flavor. The accolades and requests for the recipe prompted them to bottle and commercially sell Chris’ family’s sauce.  

“My dad created this recipe years ago,” Chris says. “He took the vinegar sauce common to Lexington and gave it a little more seasoning and body.” 

“Diesel” Dan Leonard, Chris’ father, based his recipe on Carolina Red Sauce, the sweet, spicy, cider vinegar- and ketchup-based concoction that is the pride of the western part of North Carolina. In this region, this thin style of sauce is used to mop big cuts of smoked pork and ribs. It’s also used as a “dip,” for dunking in finished bites of meat. Dan Leonard’s version is thicker than what’s traditional, which makes it more versatile. It also has enough heat to keep any Cajun from reaching for the cayenne shaker. 

To get their product to market, Chris and Camille worked through the LSU AgCenter Food Incubator. LSU’s food incubator program has helped many fledgling Louisiana food companies test, produce, package, and market new products. Chris says he and Camille had access to the center’s professional kitchen, processing facility, and food safety and packaging experts. “And we all designed the label,” he says. “Camille and I had lots of input.” 

During my conversation with Chris, I picked up hints about just how serious barbecuing is in North Carolina, even down to the coleslaw. “The eastern and western halves of the state prefer different coleslaws for pulled pork sandwiches,” he said. “The west eats red slaw. It’s chopped really fine and seasoned with red sauce. The east likes white slaw.” 

​Further research reveals that in North Carolina, barbecue discussions can be as toxic as talk about politics. The basic differences between the state’s two major barbecue regions are that the east likes smoking whole hogs using a vinegar and pepper sauce with no tomato. The accompanying coleslaw is made with mayonnaise. The western part of North Carolina (Piedmont or Lexington style) prefers to barbecue pork shoulder, and they use Red Sauce, or “dip”, which contains ketchup and lots of pepper.

At first I thought it was the sweetness and the just-right heat level that drew me to Leonard’s BBQ Sauce. I also thought back to the barbecue cooking contests I’ve judged over the years, and I realized that my taste buds naturally gravitate toward entrants with sauces based on vinegar. Then there’s the ease of using only one bottle of something for seasoning. I concluded that I probably like this product because of the combination of everything. 

Chris gave me a partial list of dishes that his sauce can enhance: grilled crabs, raw oysters, crawfish dip, skewered shrimp, chicken wings, eggrolls — you get the delicious picture. 

You can find 16-ounce bottles of Leonard’s Carolina BBQ Finishing Sauce & Marinade at 35 locations in Acadiana, including Acadian Superette, Fresh Pickins’, and Rouse’s.

To find your closest retailer, go to www.leonardsbbq.com.
 

Do you have a Louisiana agriculture story or a recipe you’d like to share? Contact me at noblescynthia@gmail.com.
 

Cynthia Nobles is the cookbook editor for LSU Press and the author/co-author of several historical cookbooks, including A Confederacy of Dunces Cookbook, The Delta Queen Cookbook, and The Fonville Winans Cookbook.
 
 
Easy BBQ Black Beans
Makes 4 servings
 
Leonard’s BBQ Sauce has plenty of kick, so there’s no need to add the usual list of peppers and spices that give beans taste.
 
1 (15-ounce) can black beans
½ cup finely chopped onion
⅓ cup Leonard’s Carolina BBQ Sauce
 
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower to a brisk simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is cooked through and the beans are creamy, about 15 minutes. Serve warm.
 
 
 
Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Red Coleslaw
Makes 15 sandwiches
 
6-8 pounds Smoked Pulled Pork (recipe follows)
15 hamburger buns
Leonard’s Carolina BBQ Sauce
Red Coleslaw (recipe follows)
 
Place generous portions of pulled pork on the bottoms of buns. Top with additional sauce and coleslaw. Cover with remaining bun half and serve warm. 
 
 
Smoked Pulled Pork
Makes 15 sandwiches
 
This is Chris Leonard’s recipe for authentic North Carolina-style smoked pulled pork.
 
6 to 8-pound pork shoulder
1 (16-ounce) jar Leonard’s Carolina BBQ Sauce
 
Prepare a smoker with hickory or oak wood to 250°F. Place the pork, fat side up, on the middle rack and cover the smoker. Smoke the meat, basting every hour with Leonard’s BBQ Sauce, until it is pull-apart tender, usually when a meat thermometer inserted in the center reads 200°F. This can take up to 8 hours. Remove from the smoker and wrap in foil. Let rest 1 hour. 
 
Shred the pork with your hands or a fork. Add 1 cup barbecue sauce to the meat and toss to coat. 
 
 
 
Grilled Shrimp Skewers
Makes 4 servings
 
For this recipe, use the biggest shrimp you can find.
 
4 wooden or metal skewers
1½ pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 small zucchini, in ¼-inch slices
1 small yellow squash, in ¼-inch slices
1 cup Leonard’s Carolina BBQ Sauce
 
1. If you’re using wood skewers, soak them in water 15 minutes. Thread the shrimp, zucchini, and squash onto the skewers. Brush both sides with sauce and set aside.
2. Coat a grill or grill pan with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Cook one side of the skewers 3 minutes and baste with sauce. Turn over, baste, and cook the other side until shrimp are pink and curled, 2-3 more minutes. (To broil, place on a foil-lined pan and broil on high 2-3 minutes per side.) Serve at the table with more Leonard’s Carolina BBQ Sauce.
 
 
Red Coleslaw
Makes 10-12 sandwich servings
 
This is Lexington-style coleslaw, also known as barbecue slaw. The “red” comes from ketchup, not red cabbage. (Leonard’s Carolina BBQ Sauce already has ketchup in it.) 
 
1 medium head green cabbage, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 cup Leonard’s Carolina BBQ Sauce
 
Combine cabbage and onion and toss well with barbecue sauce. Chill at least 4 hours. 

Story, photos and recipes by Cynthia Nobles

Two of Darla Rose Faul’s great passions are the tiny Cameron Parish community of Holly Beach and the famously big crabs that live there. This past June, Darla paid homage to her hurricane-ravaged town and its favorite crustacean by organizing the
“First Annual Holly Beach Crab Festival.” 

The festivities included a crab cookoff. She asked me to be a judge. It did not take me a nanosecond to say “yes”!

As most southwest Louisiana seafood lovers know, the brackish lakes and marshes between Lake Charles and the “Cajun Riviera” teem with crabs. It was therefore not surprising that on the napalm-hot day of the festival, the canals along Highway 27 down to Holly Beach were dotted with pockets of people crabbing. Some tried their luck with old tried-and-true strings and chicken necks. Others hauled in crabs with rods and reels and drop nets. White plastic jugs bobbed down the middle of many canals. Those jugs were the property of commercial fishermen, who typically use catfish carcasses and menhaden for bait.

Worldwide, there are some 4,500 species of crab. Several kinds live in our coastal waters, but the main crab caught here commercially is the Atlantic Blue crab. The blue crab’s scientific name is Callinectes sapidus, which translates to “savory beautiful swimmer.”  

These decapods are found in coastal waters stretching from Nova Scotia all the way down to Argentina. In Louisiana, blue crabs bite best from May through September. Crabs eat just about anything, including dead fish, plants, and smaller blue crabs. These indiscriminate dining habits helps clean our waters and keep the ecosystem in balance.

Blue crabs have been harvested commercially in Louisiana since at least the 1800s. Peyton Cagle, Crustacean Program Manager at the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, says Louisiana has some 1,300 active commercial crab fishermen, and that they harvest more crabs than anyone in the U.S. Typically landing over 40 million pounds per year, our state provides about one-quarter of the country’s total take.

Some 3,000 jobs depend on crabbing, which generates almost $300 million a year. 
According to Cagle, our soft-shell crab market is mainly located in central and eastern Louisiana, where Hurricane Ida severely damaged that industry. He says that soft shell production is down from 20 years ago, but more people are looking into selling soft shell crabs as a business option. 

Cagle says that hard-shell crab fishing is in relatively good shape, with the “Louisiana blue crab stock … not experiencing overfishing or exceeding the fishing mortality target.” 

The majority of commercial crabs are fished in the eastern part of the state around Lake Pontchartrain and down to the open waters of Breton and Chandeleur Sounds. Many come from Cameron Parish. Some even come from around Holly Beach.

When I reached Holly Beach, I was shocked to see that the coffee-colored sand of many childhood vacations was almost white. A deposit of white sand has been found several miles out in the Gulf. Some of that sand has been barged onto the beach, and it helps brighten an area that has been darkened by more than its share of landfalling hurricanes.  

Holly Beach has been rebuilt many times, including after Hurricane Audrey leveled it in 1957. More recently, Hurricane Rita landed in 2005, and 2008 was the year of Hurricane Ike. When Hurricanes Laura and Delta hammered Holly Beach in 2020, there were whispers that the beloved Gulf town would never come back. This unshakable community, however, is proving that rumor wrong.

Along streets with names like Mallard, Teal, and Porpoise, some 80 colorful, sturdy-looking camps have been repaired and constructed. There are, as expected, many vacant lots, but they are kept mowed. For the public, port-a-lets are kept refreshingly clean, and campers pitch tents and throw frisbees along that white-sand beach.

There are no grocery stores, bars, or restaurants, but the venerable Meaux’s Seafood is still going strong. On the day I was there, the little market was flush with gigantic crabs.

Before the noon crab cooking competition began, I moseyed through the festival’s 6-lot area of food and souvenir trucks. Against a backdrop of lively DJ music, festival-goers slurped on snow cones, played “crab bingo,” competed in crab races, and drank beer. Someone told me bigger crowds were expected that evening. That’s when the Get Right Ramblers would crank it up, and when the free boiled crabs would be served.

“Many folks here,” Darla Faul said, “are from other states. But most live here or were here before the storms. A lot just have some sort of sentimental Holly Beach attachment.” 

Years ago, Darla and her husband, Steve, retired to Holly Beach from Texas. For the past couple of years, the couple has worked hard to bring back the small town’s carefree past. Aside from bonding around crabs, Darla is certain that a path to Holly Beach’s full recovery involves music. She and Steve have connections with many Texas-based bands. Just about every other week last summer they arranged for free live entertainment on an empty lot behind their Holly Beach trailer. 

It was time for the cooking contest. I gleefully dug into entries of crab cakes, fried crabs, gumbo, maque choux, mac and cheese, a couple of stews, and a few dips. The winner was a golden-brown, overstuffed crab. The close second was a perfectly grilled whole one. The food entries were incredibly good. The live music that followed was first-rate, and it put everyone in the mood to sing and dance.  

Yes, the festival honored crabs. But on that scorching day in June there were strong hints of community rebirth. Although only half of Holly Beach’s buildings are rebuilt, full-time residents are 100 percent ready to get back to normal. Darla hoped the festival would lure in those who are still afraid to come back. She was not disappointed.

“Recovering from structural devastation takes time,” she said. “But when old friends get together for beer, music, conversation, and crabs, things can happen fast.”
And will there be a Second Annual Holly Beach Crab Festival. Darla flashed a wide grin. “You bet.”
 

 
Do you have a Louisiana agriculture story or a recipe you’d like to share? Contact me at noblescynthia@gmail.com.
 
Cynthia Nobles is the cookbook editor for LSU Press and the author/co-author of several historical cookbooks, including A Confederacy of Dunces Cookbook, The Delta Queen Cookbook, and The Fonville Winans Cookbook.
 
 
Crabmeat Salad
Makes 24 hors d’eouvres, or 4-6 entrée salad servings. 
 
This simple recipe lets the taste of lump crabmeat shine. It can be served on crackers, in oriental-style ceramic spoons, or stuffed in avocados or tomatoes.
 
⅓ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sour cream
¼ cup minced green onions, plus additional for garnish
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ teaspoon celery salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat, cartilage and shell carefully removed
 
1. Make dressing in a large glass bowl by combining mayonnaise, sour cream, ¼ cup green onions, lemon juice, celery salt, and black pepper. Can be made 1 day ahead and stored covered in the refrigerator.
2. Up to 3 hours before serving, mix crabmeat with mayonnaise mixture and chill until ready to use. Serve garnished with green onions.
 
 
Crab and Corn Bisque
Makes 4 appetizer servings
 
3 tablespoons butter
½ cup finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1½ cups seafood or chicken stock
1½ cups heavy cream
¾ teaspoon salt
Cayenne pepper to taste
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
4 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
½ pound fresh lump crabmeat
¼ cup chopped green onions
 
1. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Stir in onion and cook 2 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds. Stir in flour, then the stock. Bring to a boil.
2. Slowly stir in the cream, salt, and pepper. When mixture comes to a quick simmer, add corn, bring back to a simmer, and cook 2 minutes. Gently stir in crab and cook just until the sides start to bubble. Ladle into bowls and top with green onions. Serve hot.
 
 
Crab and Shrimp Stuffed Bell Peppers
Makes 8 servings
 
4 large bell peppers, plus 1 cup chopped
1 pound fresh shrimp, peeled and coarsely chopped
Salt and cayenne pepper
Juice from 1 lemon
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups cooked rice
½ cup sour cream or mayonnaise
¼ cup chopped parsley
1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 large egg, beaten
1 pound crabmeat
1 cup bread crumbs
3 tablespoons butter, melted
 
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cut off tops of bell peppers. Slice the peppers in half lengthwise and boil them 5 minutes. Remove from water and drain.
2. Place shrimp in a bowl and toss with salt, cayenne, and lemon juice. Set aside. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high and stir in the onion, celery, and 1 cup chopped bell pepper. Sauté until the vegetables are tender, about 6 minutes. Add the shrimp and garlic and cook until shrimp turn pink, 2-3 minutes. 
3. Remove the skillet from heat and stir in the rice, sour cream, parsley, Creole seasoning, ½ teaspoon salt, and black pepper. Stir in the beaten egg. Gently fold in the crab meat. Mound the mixture into the boiled pepper halves. 
4. Combine the bread crumbs and melted butter and sprinkle on top of the peppers. Bake until golden brown, about 30-35 minutes. Serve warm.

Story, photos and recipes by Cynthia Nobles

Over the past 30 years Brandt Robin has seen momentous changes in the vegetable growing business. Not all of them have been good. But demand for such delights as locally grown corn, tomatoes, and strawberries has skyrocketed, which makes his numerous production headaches worthwhile.

Brandt Robin and his wife, Jamie, own Robin Farms, just north of Church Point, where they grow a cornucopia of vegetables that they sell directly to the public. He’s from Judice and she’s from Carencro. The pair fatefully met at a high school FFA convention, and they married in 1999. 

Brandt is passionate and knowledgeable about farming produce, and for 6 years, he was president of the Louisiana Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association. On a recent visit to his fields, he told me he caught the farming bug from his grandfather, a successful rice grower. In the sixth grade, Brandt began raising vegetables on 4 acres.

“These days Jamie and I plant 30 acres. And we do it 2-3 times a year.”

Brandt is particularly proud of his tomatoes. He plants over 2,000 tomato seedlings at a time. Some of those plants produce into January. “Seven times I’ve made 40 pounds per plant,” he said. I asked if any particular kind of tomato is so robust, and he said his high-yielding varieties were all different. “It’s all in knowing how to grow them.”

His vigorous tomato plants grow through black plastic, which helps keep the soil warm. Brandt reminds me that tomatoes thrive in heat. “When the temperature hits 92 degrees,” he says, “I irrigate twice a day. That best utilizes the fertilizer. That’s when I really start producing.” The plastic also helps speed the ripening process, and he says that 72-day tomatoes can be ready to pick in 60 days

To keep all those tomato plants upright, Brandt uses his own staking system, which differs from the Florida Weave, the common support standard used by most large-scale tomato growers. The Florida Weave involves driving stakes between every other plant and sandwiching the plants between two walls of twine that are woven around the stakes. For Brandt, breaking this cumbersome apparatus down takes too much time. “I don’t weave twine through the plants,” he says. “I tie the string on the same side of the poles.” As the plants grow, he ties on more string, all on the same pole sides. “That way it’s much easier to break everything down.” 

In season, the Robins grow a wide variety of other produce, and customers line up early to buy it. A few root vegetables they sell are freshly-dug Irish potatoes, onions, and turnips. In the summer, they specialize in strawberries, okra, cabbage, cauliflower, sweet corn, melons, eggplant, cucumbers, and a rainbow of peppers. This year, Jamie is even growing zinnias.

I asked him about the challenges he faces growing such diverse, time-consuming crops. “Believe it or not,” he said, “one of my most frustrating problems is that seed breeders give me plants that people don’t necessarily want.” 

He used cucumbers as an example. “Seed companies are pushing lots of pickling cucumbers. ‘Dasher II’ used to be a customer favorite, but I can’t get it anymore. Now I have to plant different cucumbers, and they don’t have names, only numbers.” To solve part of that problem, he keeps seed from year to year. 

Another complication, he says, is that many newer plant varieties produce concentrated fruit sets. “That means that everything ripens at the same time and causes price glitches. The market gets overloaded and produces lower prices nationally.” One way he combats that problem is to use white plastic around selected plants. White reflects the sun and keeps soil cooler, thereby slowing down ripening times.

He also mentioned a problem that plagues most farmers. “Dependable labor is hard to find.” Growing high-quality produce requires that the vast majority of the planting, picking, and cleaning all be done by hand. “I’ve got good help right now,” he said. “But lots of times employees only last a day.”

He also shakes his head at the thought of high diesel fuel prices. “Fertilizer is so expensive. All the commercial products we need to keep our plants healthy are sky-high. And I don’t think they’re as effective as they were in the old days. All these obstacles,” he says, “are why there’s only a handful of major vegetable growers left in Louisiana. Not long ago there were a couple of hundred.”

As we surveyed a gigantic greenhouse and the farm’s straight, neat rows of varied heights of green foliage, the conversation turned to production practices. Brandt went to UL (then, USL), and in 1998 received a degree in Agribusiness. Immediately it became obvious that he approaches farming with the mindset of a chemist. 

“Getting high yields is a science,” he said. “I have to balance the weather, nutrients, soil PH, and water needs.” 

The Robin farm has 7 different types of soil, and Brandt pays extra attention to soil health and composition. “I take soil samples twice a year,” he says. “Before and after I plant. It’s critical to have the right PH and fertility levels.” 

He also puts high value on micronutrients. One example is an experiment he conducted using boron. In small amounts, this element is necessary for the plant cell growth, and Brandt stresses that it is important for producing high-quality tomatoes.  

​“I started with 1 pound per acre, and that was way too low,” he said. He then tried 2 pounds, and that took him to the other end of the spectrum. “I finally learned that for my soils, 1½ pounds of boron is optimum.” 

For watering, he uses micro irrigation, a low-pressure, low-flow-rate type that reduces the likelihood of overwatering. “I check the PH value of the water. And I time the watering properly; timing is very important.”

The result of the Robins’ hard work is an astonishing variety of fruits and vegetables that outshine anything you’ll find in a supermarket. Aside from a few specialized deliveries, the couple strictly sells to the public from their farm. If you want some of their just-picked produce, check out their posted opening hours on Facebook (Robin Farms), or call 337-789-3776. Address: 317 Houston Richard Road, Church Point.
 

 
Do you have a Louisiana agriculture story or a recipe you’d like to share? Contact me at noblescynthia@gmail.com
 
Cynthia Nobles is the cookbook editor for LSU Press and the author/co-author of several historical cookbooks, including A Confederacy of Dunces Cookbook, The Delta Queen Cookbook, and The Fonville Winans Cookbook.
 
 
 
Watermelon Salad
Makes 6 servings
 
¼ cup canola oil
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
¼ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
6 cups seeded watermelon, cut in 1-inch pieces
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
¼ cup finely chopped red onion
 
1. Make a dressing by whisking together the oil, mint, lime juice, salt, and cayenne. Set aside.
2. On a rimmed serving platter or shallow casserole dish, arrange watermelon pieces and top with feta and chopped onion. Drizzle dressing over everything, and serve immediately.
 
 
 
 
 
Broiled Tomatoes
Makes 4 servings
 
This simple dish is great alongside grilled steak.
 
2 large, firm ripe tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and ground black pepper
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil or oregano
 
1. Position an oven rack 6-8 inches below your broiler, and preheat the broiler to high. Lightly oil a baking pan, or line it with parchment paper. 
2. Cut the tomatoes in half horizontally. Cut side up, arrange tomatoes in the prepared baking pan. Drizzle the tops with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle on the cheese and basil.
3. Broil until the tops bubble briskly and begin to brown, about 5-8 minutes. Serve warm.
 
 
 
Smothered Okra and Tomatoes
Makes 4 servings
 
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 pound sliced fresh or frozen okra
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1½ cups chopped fresh, seeded tomatoes, or canned diced or crushed, with liquid
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
 
1. In a heavy-bottomed pot, add oil and sauté onion over medium heat until golden, about 5 minutes.
2. Stir in okra, vinegar, tomatoes, salt, and black pepper. Turn heat to low and cook, covered, until okra is tender, about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking. 
3. Remove from heat and let sit, covered, 10 minutes. Serve hot.
 
 
 
Zucchini and Yellow Squash Sauté
Makes 4 servings
 
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, halved and sliced thinly
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 medium zucchini, cut into ¼-inch slices
2 medium yellow squash, cut into ¼-inch slices
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil, mint, or parsley
1 teaspoon Creole seasoning
 
1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir 30 seconds.
2. Add the zucchini and squash and sauté until just tender and beginning to brown, about 8 minutes. Sprinkle with basil and Creole seasoning and cook another minute. Serve warm. 

Story, photos and recipes by Cynthia Nobles 

Story, photos and recipes by Cynthia Nobles 

I’ve always thought it crucial that Louisiana’s youngsters learn about our state’s historical dishes and about the crops we grow that go into them. So does Consumer Sciences teacher Melissa Alleman. Melissa has been teaching at Iota High School for 7 years, and she is keenly aware that the younger generation is responsible for carrying on our unique food traditions. 

Many of her students come from farming families. “Lots of them live on rice and crawfish farms,” Melissa says. “Some are tied to the cattle and shrimp industries.” For these reasons, she teaches different ways to prepare what they raise and harvest. 

​She invited me to watch a class she was teaching that focused on an important Louisiana crop, sugar. That day her students were making quick, simple king cakes. I tagged along as she meandered around her room full of sinks, stoves, and tables. Sparkling clean countertops were dotted with containers of colored sugars, icing, and plastic babies. At each stove, teenaged girls and guys were stretching canned cinnamon roll dough into ropes, as they merrily talked. 

“I’m happy to hear them chattering,” Melissa said. “They’re socializing, and not on their phones.”

She answered a student’s recipe question, then mentioned to me a fall class she’d taught on wild game processing. She added, “Right before Easter I teach how to dye eggs. And we discuss the Cajun tradition of pocking.” 

Melissa grew up in Rayne and began teaching in 1995, after she graduated from UL (at the time, USL). She explained that was also the year after most schools in the U.S. formally changed the class title of Home Economics to Family and Consumer Sciences.

Melissa’s credentials also include a ServSafe certification, and she certifies interested students. ServSafe is a National Restaurant Association training program that maintains restaurant safety standards. After Melissa’s students pass the certification test, they have met Louisiana’s legal teenage requirements to work in a restaurant as a ServSafe Food Handler.

Although I was there to learn about her focus on Louisiana cooking, Melissa reminded me that her class is about more than food preparation. Lectures added since my own high school years in “Home Ec” are talks on relationship building, family life, and parenting. Of course, there’s still sewing lessons, but gone are the days of painfully stitching together lined coats that no one would dare wear in public. Instead, she teaches basics that students will actually use, like hemming, patching, and sewing on buttons. (What I would have done for a teacher like Melissa.)

Practicality also dominates her cooking philosophy. “I don’t teach how to make cakes from scratch,” she says. “No one will go home and do that. Instead, we cook dishes these kids will actually make and eat.” Many of her recipes, like king cakes, start with convenience foods that can easily be doctored to taste homemade. “These days parents work. So I give my students easy recipes they can prepare on their own.”

One big exception to shortcut cooking is a 4-day lab she conducts on Louisiana’s “state cuisine,” gumbo. Day 1 is for making roux. On day 2, students simmer the roux in water with chopped onion, and they make that must-have side dish, potato salad. Day 3 is when chicken is added and thoroughly cooked, and on day 4, they add sausage, adjust seasonings, and cook rice.

Not all of Melissa’s recipes are for Louisiana food. But a large portion are, and those dishes typically come with a history lesson. “For example,’ she says, “I do a lab on rice, and we learn how it came to Louisiana. We also have rice comparisons. We evaluate tastes, cooking times, and nutrition data.” 

​Many dishes lead to discussions on Creole cuisine vs. Cajun. “I talk about Spanish and African influences in Louisiana food,” she says. “And we touch on the country style way of cooking in North Louisiana, and how it differs from the customary foods of Acadiana and New Orleans.”

She tells students not to forget to read labels, and to keep nutrition front of mind. She also stresses the importance of shopping local, both to help our economy and to “know what you’re getting.” 

The class ended with proud students laying an array of small, colorful round pastries on a table. I was amazed at how fast those king cakes came together. I was also surprised at how this class (even the boys!) seemed to enjoy their work. In particular, I was impressed with the way Melissa Alleman manages to make high schoolers interested in cooking our traditional Louisiana food. 
 
 
Shrimp Etouffee 
Makes 4 servings (recipe courtesy of Melissa Alleman)
 
2 cups peeled, raw shrimp
Salt and red pepper
1 stick margarine or butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1½ cups cold water
Optional: 1 can cream of mushroom soup (better over steak or noodles)
For serving: rice, noodles, or steak, and ¼ cup chopped onion tops
 
1. Season shrimp generously with salt and red pepper and set aside.
2. In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the margarine. Add the onion and cook slowly, uncovered, until onions are soft, about 7 minutes. Add shrimp and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. 
3. Dissolve cornstarch in cold water, then add to shrimp mixture. If using cream of mushroom soup, add it now. Simmer, uncovered, 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and red pepper. Spoon warm etouffee over rice, noodles, or steak, and sprinkle with onion tops.
 
 
 
Chocolate Syrup on Bread (Chocolate Bread) 
Makes 8-10 slices (Melissa Alleman’s mom’s recipe)
 
This old-fashioned childhood favorite is a specialty of south Louisiana.
 
1 cup whole milk
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter
½ cup powdered cocoa
8-10 slices bread
 
In a small saucepan set over medium heat, bring all ingredients, except the bread, to a boil. Stir until the mixture starts to turn creamy, about 7 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and dip the bread slices completely in the warm chocolate. Place on a platter and serve warm.
 
 
 
Mini King Cakes
Makes 5 (recipe courtesy of Melissa Alleman)
 
1 can (17.5 ounces) refrigerated Pillsbury™ Grands! Cinnamon Rolls with Original Icing 
2 tablespoons yellow colored sugar
2 tablespoons purple colored sugar
2 tablespoons green colored sugar
5 small plastic king cake babies (optional)
 
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet. Set the container of icing aside.
2. Separate dough into 5 rolls. Unroll 1 piece of dough and stretch it into a rope about 18 inches long. Fold the rope in half lengthwise. Twist dough into a spiral, and shape into a circle, with the ends touching. Place on prepared cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining dough pieces, placing 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet.
3. Bake until golden brown, 20-25 minutes, depending on your oven. Spread icing on warm cakes. Sprinkle with colored sugars before icing hardens. Top each with a plastic king cake baby.

Story, photos and recipes by Cynthia Nobles 

Young whippersnappers might be surprised to learn that there actually was a time when you could not walk into anygrocery store and buy a pack of cleaned crawfish tails. More unbelievable, until the 1960s, there was no such thing as a commercial crawfish pond. 

Over the years it’s been interesting to observe the development of our crawfish industry. Louisiana’s commercial sales go back to a recorded harvest in 1880. That year crawfish farmers in natural waters hauled in 23,400 pounds, for a whopping value of $2,140. Those early crawfish overwhelmingly came from Atchafalaya Basin swamps, where production depended on the whims of water levels. During that time some rice farmers did flood off-season fields to coax the little critters out. But anything they caught was used for home consumption.

The idea of selling peeled tails began shortly after farmers began flooding rice fields for commercial production in the early 1960s. Both practices exploded in the 1980s, when rice prices plummeted and farmers looked for other ways to make income.

Crawfish salesman Lionel Hayes of Henderson is widely considered the father of the modern processed tail meat industry. The story goes that one day Hayes had 7 sacks of live crawfish he could not sell and so asked his sisters to clean them. Hayes then offered the peeled tails to the owners of Don’s Seafood Restaurant in Lafayette, and they enthusiastically bought them. The crawfish processing business was thus born.

Today, Louisiana produces 90 percent of domestic crawfish, with more than 1,600 farmers working some 260,000 acres of artificial ponds. About 800 farmers harvest from natural wetlands. The industry employs about 7,000. LSUAg Center projections for 2022 show that we will harvest nearly 150 million pounds. Annually, crawfish contributes over $300 million to our economy.

Crawfish have been burrowing in our state’s mud for millions of years, and were an important part of Louisiana’s Native American diet. The Houma tribe, in particular, had high opinions of this indigenous crustacean. It is widely believed that the name “Houma” is an abbreviation of the word “saktcihomma,” meaning “red crawfish.” The Houma revered the little critter so much that the crawfish was their war emblem. 

​A fanciful Cajun legend goes that when the exiled Acadians sailed to Louisiana from Canada, their beloved lobsters followed them on land. After making the long trek, the lobsters lost weight. Those travel weary and now smaller lobsters became known as écrevisse, crawfish.

Crawfish gained universal fame in 1960, when the town of Breaux Bridge was named “the Crawfish Capital of the World.” Crawfish earned more prestige in 1983, when Louisiana became the first to name a state crustacean, the crawfish. More formal recognition came in 2015, when our Legislature passed a resolution recognizing April as “Louisiana Crawfish Awareness Month.”

At my family’s Acadia Parish rice farm, crawfish are as ubiquitous as rain. We kids naturally spent every spring sloshing barefoot through gooey, muddy rice fields to catch them. 

The bait of my childhood was raw, bloody melt, beef spleen. Our lift nets, also known as carrelets, were made from squares of cotton netting tied beneath four long wires that connected at the top. We raised them up with bamboo poles. My two brothers wouldn’t flinch at whatever appeared in the nets along with the crawfish. We five sisters, on the other hand, would stifle screams while bravely pulling up creatures such as squirming tadpoles and coiled snakes. But slimy things would not stop us.

Nothing, not even ponds covered with ice or filled with fanged serpents, deterred us from catching crawfish.

For crawfish boils in those days before propane, daddy would set his mother’s gigantic old cast iron soap kettle over crackling oak logs. He loved inviting family and neighbors. Many times, guests included parish priests. 

One morning, to our surprise, three nuns from our elementary school appeared at the crawfish pond. More shocking, our teachers insisted on helping catch that day’s dinner. Since the nuns were dressed in flowing head-to-toe black, daddy gallantly laid a few boards out into the shallow pond, creating a narrow walkway. The normally demure nuns hiked up their long skirts, grabbed poles, and crept out, with water constantly splashing over their shoes and stockings.  

When it came to local crawfish commerce, I suppose my father was ahead of his time.

In the years before anyone that we knew dreamed of making big bucks from pond crawfish, Rodney LeJeune was operating a “U-Catch-It” business in one of his flooded rice fields. Every spring he hung a scale from a front yard pine tree. From it he weighed his customers’ rice sacks full of crawfish. I vividly remember the day he raised his price from 8 cents to 10 cents a pound. His profits went straight to my mother, and one year he sold enough for her to buy a new living room set. 

For reasons other than pin money, mama loved crawfish. On many a day my fingers turned raw from peeling crawfish for her unparalleled etouffee. In her later years, after her seven little crawfish peelers left home, mama occasionally gave in and bought packs of cleaned tails. She judged them suitable, but was always adamant that the best tasting crawfish came from our ponds.    
 

Do you have a Louisiana agriculture story or a recipe you’d like to share? Contact me at noblescynthia@gmail.com.
 
Cynthia Nobles is the cookbook editor for LSU Press and the author/co-author of several historical cookbooks, including A Confederacy of Dunces Cookbook, The Delta Queen Cookbook, and The Fonville Winans Cookbook.
 
 
Cold Crawfish Dip
Makes 3 cups (Best made a day ahead)
 
4 tablespoons butter
1 pound crawfish tails, with fat
1 cup finely minced onion
1 teaspoon liquid crab boil
¾ teaspoon salt
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, chopped fine
1 (12-ounce) package whipped cream cheese spread
¼ cup mayonnaise
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
3 green onions, finely chopped
 
1. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and cook the crawfish and fat, onion, crab boil, and salt for 9 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in jalapeno and cook 1 minute. Remove from heat.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese, mayonnaise, black pepper, and green onions. Add the crawfish mixture and mix well. Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
 
 
 
Crawfish Patty Appetizers
Makes 12 (1½-inch) pieces 
 
12 frozen mini filo or puff pastry shells
4 tablespoons butter, divided
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1¼ cups seafood or chicken stock
¼ cup finely chopped green onion (plus extra for garnish)
1 teaspoon Creole seasoning
1 cup heavy cream
¼ cup tomato sauce
¼ cup brandy or white wine
½ teaspoon paprika
1 pound crawfish tails, with fat
1 tablespoon lemon juice (plus lemon slices for garnish)
 
1. Bake pastry shells according to package directions and set aside. In a heavy, deep saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat and stir in flour. Stir constantly until mixture is the color of khaki, 3-4 minutes. Carefully whisk in stock and add remaining 2 tablespoons butter, green onion, and Creole seasoning and simmer 1 minute. 
2. Add cream, tomato sauce, brandy, and paprika. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until reduced by one-third. Stir in crawfish, bring to a simmer, and cook 10 minutes. Stir in lemon juice. If too thick, add more stock or cream.
3. Arrange pastry shells on dinner plates and spoon in the crawfish mixture. Garnish with green onion and lemon slices. Serve hot.
 
 
 
Crawfish Casserole
Makes 12 servings
 
Recipe courtesy of Cheramie Sonnier of Baton Rouge. Cheramie says that her mother created this creamy, retro one-pot meal from whatever she had on hand. It is the one thing her family still requests for holidays, when they enjoy it as a side dish.
 
2 pounds crawfish tails
1 (6-oz.) package Ben’s Long Grain and Wild Rice, including seasoning packet
2¼ cups warm chicken stock
1 (14½-oz.) can Del Monte French-style green beans, drained
1 (10-oz.) can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 (8-oz.) can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 (4-oz.) jar pimentos, drained
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped celery
½ cup chopped bell pepper
¼ cup chopped parsley
¼ cup chopped green onion tops
2 cloves garlic, chopped
½ teaspoon salt
¼-½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (depends on how hot you want it)
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
 
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Transfer mixture to an oiled 9x13-inch baking dish, cover with foil, and bake 1¼ hours. Remove foil and bake 15 minutes. Remove from oven, cover again with foil, and let sit 10 minutes. Serve warm. 
 
 
 
Crawfish Étouffée
Makes 4 servings
 
1 stick butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1½ cups seafood stock or water
½ cup tomato sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pound cleaned crawfish tails, with fat
3 green onions, finely chopped
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
For serving: hot cooked rice
 
1. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat and sauté the onion, bell pepper, and celery until soft, 6-8 minutes. Stir in garlic and flour and cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Stir in stock, tomato sauce, salt, and pepper. Lower heat to a bare simmer and cook 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add crawfish and fat. Stir and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in green onions and parsley. Serve over hot rice. 

Story and recipes by Cynthia Nobles 

Most youngsters who raise cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs know that participating in 4-H is a good way to learn the livestock ropes and show off prized animals. Louisiana’s 4-H State President, Ty Hebert, wants to make sure that everyone eligible and remotely interested gets the chance to exhibit in 4-H show rings.

A native of Cow Island and senior at Kaplan High, Ty follows in the footsteps of his grandparents and parents, and has been showing cattle since fourth grade. He mainly shows brahmans, and is also National Vice-President of the American Junior Brahman Association. 
           
Over the years, this energetic young cattleman has amassed a sizable collection of awards. Adding to his accolades, Ty was selected as Louisiana’s first 4-H Livestock Ambassador, in 2019. That same year he spent a week studying agriculture advocacy at Texas A&M. He came home to Louisiana to start a similar program, of advancing knowledge in animal science to high schoolers. 

Through his high-profile 4-H leadership roles Ty enthusiastically reaches out to budding show cattlemen. “I try hard to encourage kids to practice good caretaking,” he says. “It’s important that children learn how to properly feed their animals. They need to focus on their animals’ health.” He also stresses that livestock champions are pampered and groomed at home, long before they set foot in the show ring. “I tell everyone,” he says, “that animals should be washed at least once a week.”

Ty also feels that networking with other 4-H participants is important. He believes that interacting with peers builds confidence, and can even make livestock more valuable. “If you’re friends with someone with a champion bull, you can use that bull with a heifer at home and make more champions. And that increases market value.”

We probably all learned in grade school that the 4-H logo design, a 4-leaf clover with H’s in each leaf, signifies, head, heart, hands, and health. 4-H started well over 100 years ago in Ohio as a local agricultural after-school club. In Louisiana, 4-H began with central Louisiana agricultural pioneer, Seaman A. Knapp, who created corn-growing clubs for young people. Knapp’s first official corn club was established in Moreauville in 1908. By 1911, corn, cotton, and pig clubs were dotting the state.

Today’s Louisiana 4-H program coordinates through the LSUAgCenter, and it is robust, with over 175,000 participants. It’s the state’s largest youth development program, and has clubs and groups in all 64 parishes. 

Louisiana’s expansive 4-H adult volunteer program helps teach many diverse youth programs, such as firearm safety, cooking, sewing, gardening, and outdoor survival. These highly-trained volunteers also teach leadership, time management, and teamwork skills, and they reach over 200,000 annually. 

Our 4-H livestock shows have been going strong more than 70 years, with top qualifiers advancing to district and state competitions. The auction sales that follow most shows give young participants yet another taste of real-life responsibility. 

Ty mentioned one particular Vermilion Parish auction that was especially meaningful. In December 2020, 10-year-old 4-H participant Kaylee McLain died in an accident on her family’s Abbeville farm. After January 2021’s livestock show, Kaylee’s show pig, Pearl, was auctioned to set up a scholarship fund for local schoolchildren. Auction proceeds were an astounding $100,000. 

Our state’s largest 4-H livestock show category is for hogs, with cattle following behind closely. In addition to sheep and goats, Ty points out that there’s also categories for poultry and rabbits. “Almost any meat and dairy-producing animal,” he said, “can be entered in today’s 4-H livestock shows.”

The glory of raising a champion steer or Rhode Island Red is laudable, but Ty thinks that youths who participate in 4-H gain something worth much more than a ribbon.

​He feels that it’s a disservice for parents not to enroll their children, because “4-H kids learn leadership skills and ethical competition. They learn public speaking and other life skills,” he said. “They are presented with untold opportunities.”

​In today’s tumultuous world, those kinds of personal benefits sound like a winner.            
            
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Do you have a Louisiana agriculture story or a recipe you’d like to share? Contact me at noblescynthia@gmail.com
 
Cynthia Nobles is the cookbook editor for LSU Press and the author/co-author of several historical cookbooks, including A Confederacy of Dunces Cookbook, The Delta Queen Cookbook, and The Fonville Winans Cookbook
 
 
Beef Stew
Makes 6 servings
 
This was one of my father’s favorite dishes. He called it Irish Stew, I suppose because of the potatoes.
 
1½ pounds beef chuck, cut into 1½-inch cubes
Salt, ground black pepper, and cayenne pepper
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 medium onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 cups beef stock
8 ounces tomato sauce
4 cups red potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups fresh carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
¼ cup chopped parsley
For serving: hot cooked rice
 
1. Season beef with salt, black pepper, and cayenne and set aside. To make a roux, heat oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Add flour and stir constantly until deep brown, 4-5 minutes.
2. Remove pot from heat and add onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic. Stir 30 seconds. Return pot to medium heat and stir in stock, tomato sauce, and seasoned beef. Bring to a boil, then lower to a bare simmer. Cover and cook 1½ hours. Stir occasionally.
3. Taste stew for seasoning. Add potatoes and carrots and simmer, covered, 30 more minutes.
4. Taste again for seasoning. If too thin, simmer a few minutes without the cover. Stir in parsley and serve over hot rice.
 
 
Pork Chops with Mustard Sauce
Makes 4 servings 
 
The USDA has recently changed its guidelines for cooking whole cuts of pork — instead of an internal temperature of 160°F, 145°F with a rest time of 3 minutes is now perfectly okay. This lower threshold produces much juicier cuts of meat. To check for doneness be sure to use an instant read thermometer. 
 
4 (1¼-inch-thick) rib pork chops
Salt, ground black pepper, and paprika
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
10 ounces mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoon prepared Creole mustard, or any coarse-grain mustard
½ cup heavy cream
 
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Pat pork chops dry and sprinkle both sides with salt, black pepper, and paprika. In a large, oven-proof skillet, heat olive oil over medium-heat heat. Sear chops until deep brown, about 3 minutes each side. 
2. Place skillet into oven and bake until pork is cooked through, when center reaches 145°F, about 7-9 minutes. Remove skillet from oven and place chops on a platter. Cover and keep warm.
3. In same skillet, melt butter and sauté mushrooms until tender, about 4 minutes. Remove pan from heat and stir in garlic. Stir in chicken broth and mustard and return skillet to medium-high heat. Simmer 3 minutes. Stir in cream and any accumulated juices from pork chops. Taste for seasoning and simmer until thick, about 3-4 minutes. Serve sauce over pork chops.
 
 
Lamb Chili
Makes 4 servings
 
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped yellow onion
½ cup chopped green bell pepper
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1½ pounds ground lamb
1 (24-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chilies, undrained
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1½ cups beef stock
3 tablespoons mild chili powder
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
For serving: grated Cheddar cheese and chopped onion
 
1. In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Sauté onion and bell pepper until onions are brown, about 5 minutes. 
2. Stir in garlic and sauté 1 minute. Add ground lamb and cook until brown, about 5 minutes. 
3. Stir in crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes and green chiles, tomato sauce, stock, chili powder, cumin, salt, paprika, black pepper, and cilantro. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook 45 minutes, uncovered and stirring often.
4. Stir in drained black beans and simmer until thick, about 15 minutes. Serve chili in bowls and top with Cheddar cheese and onion.