A Sneak Peek // Louisiana’s Backyard
by Ana Pizzolio, Features Editor Record-breaking hard freezes and hurricanes have directly affected Louisiana’s citrus industry for decades. The persistence of the farmers, support of locals and incentives from the local government is what keeps the production going until today. You can see the community involvement in the promotion of the local citrus crop at the annual PLAQUEMINES PARISH ORANGE FESTIVAL. This year, the festival took place at the Historic Fort Jackson in Buras from December 3-4, featuring carnival rides, music, a variety of locally produced citrus and fireworks. “I’ve been doing [this festival] my whole life. Some years we didn’t have a booth because of hurricanes and things like that, but we always come back,” Jeremy Becnel, from the Becnel Citrus Company, says. The music line-up featured Big River Band, Aaron Foret and Boot Hill on Saturday, and Ernie Wilkinson & the Hot Sauce Band and Rockin Dopsie on Sunday. Other activities included helicopter rides, a 5k run/walk, a children’s pageant, and contests such as Orange Eating, and Orange Peeling. Since its first edition in 1947, the orange festival is an opportunity for farmers to showcase their produce and for locals to supporting and celebrating the region’s main industry. Considering that the climate best allows the mass production of oranges in restricted areas only, the main crops cultivated for commercial purposes in the state are SATSUMAS AND NAVEL ORANGES. Those two along with tangerines, blood oranges, lemons, and grapefruits are just a small sample of the variety of Louisiana’s citrus produce displayed in the individual vendors’ booths at the festival. “We grow about five varieties of citrus commercially. It is predominantly Satsumas and Navels, but we have a nursery operation in which I grow about 25 varieties of citrus trees in a pot,” Becnel says. The state’s ties with citrus produce is what allows such diversity. In Louisiana, the tradition of cultivating those fruits has gone beyond commercial purposes and now citrus trees can be easily found in backyards of Louisiana’s homes. Take a look at the different citrus trees found along Louisiana’s neighborhoods in Luling, Thibodaux and Napoleonville. Know of a backyard where you can get your hands on some fresh Louisiana citrus? Here’s some lagniappe for you: visit our Chu-Chut page to learn how to make orangecello.
The Po’Boy // A Piece of Louisiana History
by Ana Pizzolio, Features Editor A loaf of french bread split open, filled with meat and dressed properly is not just a sandwich; THE FAMOUS NEW ORLEANS PO’BOY is a piece of Louisiana’s history. The Oak Street Po’boy Festival celebrates the richness of Po’boy sandwiches with lots of music, arts and innovative takes on the traditional food. With more than 30 vendors and 50 different variety of the sandwich, the 10th annual Po’boy Fest happened on Sunday, Oct. 23 at the New Orleans’ Carrollton neighborhood. There are countless legends as to the origin of the Po’boy, but it is believed that the sandwich popularization happened amid the streetcar workers strike of July of 1929. According to the research of University of New Orleans History Professor Michael Mizell-Nelson, the Po’boy was created then by former streetcar operators Bennie and Clovis Martin. To support their fellow coworkers, Martin brothers began making these sandwiches to feed then during the strike. Originally called “POOR BOYS,” the sandwiches consisted mainly of meat and bread. The bread is one of the things that makes a Po’boy special. These sandwiches are usually made on either a six-inch or a footlong crisp French bread and, at the time of its popularization, the more common fillings were comprised of roast beef and fried seafood. Because of the cheap cost of its production, this combination allowed the working class to have a great meal for a great price. With time, variations of the Po’boy began to appear and the dish became popular among both locals and tourists. Today, local restaurants in the state offer Po’boys filled with pretty much every kind of meat, from pulled barbecue pork to soft shell crab and fried chicken. Although each local has a different opinion about the best place to get a Po’boy, all of us agree that every tourist needs to grab a bite of a Po’boy to have a complete experience of South Louisiana’s cuisine. If you aren’t hungry yet, wait until you see the tasty Po’boys we found at the festival in the slideshow above.
Big Boys // Can Cook
by Ana Pizzolio, Features Editor THE BIG BOY’S MAIN STREET COOK-OFF unites the best of South Louisiana’s culture: the flavorful dishes of cajun cuisine prepared by locals with fresh ingredients. Over 45 teams gathered on historic downtown Thibodaux on November 11, to prepare traditional dishes such as jambalaya, gumbo, etouffee and much more. “This is actually one of the largest [cook-offs] we’ve ever had. We have 42 dishes total, which is phenomenal,” Chef Randy Barrios, judge and co-coordinator of the Big Boy’s Cook-Off, says. What makes it different from other cooking competitions is that the event represents the greatest of Louisiana’s tradition: the cooking on the Big Boy’s Cook-Off are primarily made by groups of local men. The event is the official kick off for the Thibodauxville Fall Festival and happens on night of the second Friday of november every year. As a culinary showcase of Louisiana fare, the festival’s main goal is to both promote and preserve Southern culture – especially the tradition of preparing dishes of the flavorful Louisiana’s cuisine. “We have a great set of judges that are going to be here, in a separate judging room. The judges are broken down in four different categories this year,” Barrios says. Participants compete for the top prizes in the gumbo/soup, jambalaya/pastalaya, sauce piquante/etoufee and variety categories. The top three of each category are chosen by a panel made of five Southern chefs and the public votes to choose the winner of the People’s Choice Award. This year the first place winners of each category were Alex’s Lawn Services with chicken and sausage file gumbo, Lafourche Parish Clerk of Court’s Office with pastalaya, First American Bank with chicken sauce piquante and Advance Physical Therapy with oyster eggrolls consecutively. The People’s Choice Award went to Better than Michael with pork routee over smoked gouda grits. Tents lining up the street lead to a music stage, in which local musicians perform many different genres. This year’s featured musicians Nonc Nu and da Wild Matous, also participated in the cook off. The band showcases a unique mix of zydeco, rock and country with lyrics in both English and Cajun French. Nonc Nu and da Wild Matous group got second place with their gumbalaya egg rolls. “This is our first year cooking gumbalaya egg rolls. We cook a gumbo, put rice in it like a jambalaya, then we roll it into an eggroll and fry it,” Cody Guidry says. “And then we put a special potato salad sauce on it,” adds Michael Collins. Charbroiled oysters, shrimp & grits, crawfish boil chowder, pork sauce piquante and every other serving from all the cook-off participants are included in the $5 admission fee and all the money raised in the event is donated to benefit downtown Thibodaux. The cook-off, which is usually composed by one amateur division, also added a new Restaurant and Chef division this year. The event is named after its founder, the late Norm “Big Boy” Swanner. Swanner was Nicholls State University supporter, former city councilman and owner of the Thibodaux-based restaurant Bubba’s II. “It’s just a great evening and a fun time. There is nothing like South Louisiana food and music,” Barrios says. https://youtu.be/wVDPdxf32X8