Free Republic

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. - It's midmorning at Bon Appetit, and the beignets are long gone. Behind a Plexiglas wall, a cook is chopping vegetables for lunch. Music heavy with brass is blaring, and Chef LeRoy Crump Jr. is rushing about with cell phone in hand, periodically stepping outdoors to greet a passer-by and tout the special, a Cajun shrimp cream pasta. The sign above his 2-week-old restaurant promises "Authentic New Orleans Cuisine and Spirits" — in small-town West Virginia, 1,000 miles from the French Quarter. After Hurricane Katrina destroyed his New Orleans home and restaurant, Crump traveled to Atlanta, then Daytona...

Profanity and an off-color comment about Cajuns by Nick Saban that he thought would remain private have become public, causing the former Dolphins coach to issue an apology Wednesday through the University of Alabama. During a 40-minute meeting with three South Florida newspaper reporters, including one from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, on Jan. 4 in Tuscaloosa, Ala., after being named the Crimson Tide's head coach, Saban relayed an anecdote about the reaction to his hiring at Louisiana State University, a Southeastern Conference rival where he coached from 2000 to 2004. Saban told the reporters that "you guys won't be able...

By Kathy Boccella Inquirer Staff Writer Michelle Davis had a problem. A week before opening her new restaurant, De' Essence of New Orleans, she couldn't find genuine Cajun hot sausage for the jambalaya. It seems that the New Orleans sausage makers she planned to order from hadn't recovered after Hurricane Katrina. "I don't know if it's going to be available," fretted Davis, standing behind the counter of her tiny Mardi Gras-themed eatery, which is scheduled to open tomorrow in Chester. "I'm really upset about that." When someone suggested she use Italian sausage, Davis rolled her eyes. "That is not hot...

Quote from book "In my estimation, the Cajun Bayou region of Louisiana, at least before Katrina, was the most distinctive and culturally rich region in America. You have three quarters of a million people throughout Cajun land, and they are utterly self-reliant people, especially the ones who live in the marshes. They build their own boats, build their own homes, live according to the rhythms of the natural world. Many of whom don't know how to read or write, yet they can spend hours discussing the intricate inner workings of wind, current, and tide, or build a wooden boat with...

'Gatemouth' Brown, legendary singer and guitarist, dies Musician fled to Orange before Hurricane Katrina wiped out his Slidell, La., home BATON ROUGE, LA. - Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown , the singer and guitarist who built a 50-year career playing blues, country, jazz and Cajun music, died Saturday in his hometown of Orange, where he had gone to escape Hurricane Katrina. He was 81. Brown had been battling lung cancer and heart disease, said Rick Cady , his booking agent. Cady said the musician was with his family at his brother's house when he died. Brown's home in Slidell, La., a bedroom...

from “Evangeline” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow -- a poem particularly near and dear to the people of Louisiana. All was ended now, the hope, and the fear, and the sorrow, All the aching of heart, the restless, unsatisfied longing, All the dull, deep pain, and constant anguish of patience! And, as she pressed once more the lifeless head to her bosom, Meekly she bowed her own, and murmured, "Father, I thank thee!" Still stands the forest primeval; but far away from its shadow, Side by side, in their nameless graves, the lovers are sleeping. Under the humble walls of the...

<p>BATON ROUGE - Each of Louisiana's gubernatorial runoff candidates has drawn financial support from expected quarters.</p> <p>Bobby Jindal, a Republican from Baton Rouge, has collected money from major party supporters, including prominent backers of incumbent Republican Gov. Mike Foster, who is barred by the state Constitution from seeking a third consecutive term. The former state and federal health official also lists numerous contributions from elements of the health-care industry.</p>

...Well, I remembered it as soon as I started listening, via the Internet, to KBON, a 25,000-watt FM station in Eunice, La. My wife picked up the KBON vibe first. "You gotta hear this,"... ...Lawtell Community Grocery, we learned, is where to find turtle meat, video poker, plumbing supplies "and rubber boots for adults and children." ...Wow. This was no test-marketed format... Paul Marx rattles away ... Ohhhhhhhhh, cher!... ...Chretien Point is an enclave of long verandas and big trees... in Grand Coteau, we found Catahoula's... ...Seale Guesthouse ... tin-roofed with a wraparound porch... D.I.'s... Savoy Music... Savoy himself... ...Dewey...

<p>NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- French bashing has even cropped up in Louisiana, the bastion of Cajun and Creole culture where "freedom fries" were out of the question when French President Jacques Chirac refused to back the war in Iraq.</p> <p>Now, however, a movement has sprung up to stop a Dec. 20 visit by Chirac. There are reports of harassment of French teachers, and the links to the French have become an issue in the state's attempt to capitalize on the bicentennial celebration of the Louisiana Purchase.</p>

This is a message from David Greely of the Mamou Playboys about a critical need to save historic Cajun & Creole recordings housed in the Archive of Cajun and Creole folklore at the University of Louisiana Dupré Library and how we fans of this music can help. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution. -Coup de Main for the Culture- In an effort to save and restore more than 1,800 recordings of Cajun and Creole music that span over a century, we are passing along an appeal for donations to all Cajun music fans. Considered by musicians (including the Mamou Playboys,...

<p>NEW ORLEANS — Don't expect to find "freedom fries" here. And forget about horse-and-buggy rides through the narrow, balcony-lined streets of the "Freedom Quarter."</p> <p>Louisiana has long played up its French heritage, especially in this 200th year since the Louisiana Purchase. State leaders and tourist-dependent businesses can only hope that tension between France and the United States over Iraq won't spoil the party.</p>

LAFAYETTE — South Louisiana’s Frenchness comes from many sources, some of them quite remote from continental France. Whatever its origins, a local authority says, the Louisiana French culture is far removed from that of Paris and even the French provinces. The Acadians were generations removed from their native land by the time of their exile from Canada and referred to themselves as Acadians, not Frenchmen. Likewise, black people and white people flocking to Louisiana from the West Indies had been there for generations, and although they brought a French language to Louisiana, they also brought Caribbean customs. Bonapartists fleeing France;...

LAFAYETTE — Terry Lavergne is fighting mad. The Lafayette businessman wishes the French were, too. Continued French resistance to war in Iraq has raised the pressure of many red-blooded Americans. French fries have become freedom fries on Capitol Hill. California sparkling wine is on menus where champagne used to be. And Lavergne — a self-professed Frenchman — put up his sign at his oilfield service business, Total Rebuild Inc. “No French products sold here,” it reads. “I pay a lot of ... taxes,” Lavergne said Thursday. “We saved these people’s behinds twice, in two world wars. I got ticked,...

Support Your Local FReeper Chapter! The Houston Area TexansHouston Chapter of FreeRepublic.comand theFreeRepublic Network  January FReep and Meet!Saturday, January 25, 2003Our regular monthly meeting has been scheduled for January 25following a FReep of the America hating Radical Left "The Progressive Workers Organizing Committee believes that all working class, oppressed, and democratic-minded people should work together to stop the war on Iraq and the mounting repression here at home. The Progressive Workers Organizing Committee is sponsoring a march and rally against war and repression on Saturday, January 25" We are gong to FReep these America hating Marxists as they attempt...

In kitchens and smokehouses on both sides of the Sabine River, Cajun, Southern, and Texas cooking meet—and nobody ever goes hungry. Me and two gorgeous Texans—a long, tall, redheaded location scout and a bright-eyed brunette photographer—are doing 75 miles an hour up Highway 59 in a dusty, white, year-old Buick Regal with the sunroof open and the ashtrays full, three six-packs of Lone Star in the cooler in the trunk, and Chris Gaffney on the stereo singing ''East of Houston, West of Baton Rouge''—which, as it happens, is exactly where we are. Bill Johnson, a lanky, fast-talking Houstonian who was...

KAPLAN, La. HERE in the land of drive-through daiquiri joints and truck-stop casinos, you often eat better in grocery stores, butcher shops and cafes than you do in restaurants. There are exceptions, of course, but in Acadiana, as a rule, the more rudimentary the surroundings, the more genuine the grub. Bare bulbs, in other words, are what you look for, not recessed lighting, paper napkins, not linen. Another thing: the best Cajun cooking isn't blisteringly hot, contrary to popular belief. It's not about incinerating fish and meat. The guardians of regional tradition produce rich, slowly simmered soups and stews, more...

Born on the Bayou With Little Urge to Roam By BLAINE HARDEN ACHERIE, La. — For children growing up in this bayou town, the cultural imperative is clear: Don't set up housekeeping where you have to call your mama long distance. By this standard, all eight children of Pierre and Lois Reulet are doing what is right. The nearest child, Myron, 43, lives next door to his parents. He stops by at 5:30 a.m. for hot chocolate on his way to work in a nearby oil refinery. He comes in just as his brother, Kirk, 52, who lives six houses...