Cajun cuisine is a style of cooking developed by the Cajun–Acadians who were deported from Acadia to Louisiana during the 18th century and who incorporated West African, French and Spanish cooking techniques into their original cuisine.
The Cajuns, also known as Louisiana Acadians, are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana and surrounding Gulf Coast states.
Acadia Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 57,576. The parish seat is Crowley. The parish was founded from parts of St. Landry Parish in 1886, and later an election was held to determine the parish seat, ending when Crowley beat Rayne and Prairie Hayes. Acadia Parish is included in the Lafayette metropolitan statistical area.
Church Point is a town in Acadia Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 4,560 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Crowley Micropolitan Statistical Area. Church Point is known as the Buggy Capital of the World as it used to be host to the annual Buggy Festival which has since gone defunct.
Crowley is a city in, and the parish seat of, Acadia Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 United States census, Crowley had a population of 11,710. Crowley is the principal city of the Crowley micropolitan statistical area, which includes all of Acadia Parish. It is also part of the larger Lafayette–Acadiana combined statistical area.
Mermentau is a village in Acadia Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 661 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Crowley Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Mamou is a town in Evangeline Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,242 at the 2010 census, down from 3,566 in 2000.
Livonia is a town in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,442 at the 2010 census, up from 1,339 in 2000. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Basile is a town in Acadia and Evangeline parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 1,214 in 2020.
Duson is a town in Acadia and Lafayette parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The town was named after Curley Duson, a sheriff of St. Landry Parish. At the 2010 U.S. census, the town had a population of 1,716; in 2020, at the population estimates program, its population was 1,761. The Lafayette Parish portion of Duson is part of the Lafayette metropolitan statistical area, while the Acadia Parish portion is part of the Crowley micropolitan statistical area.
Eunice is a city in Acadia and St. Landry parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The 2010 census placed the population at 10,398, a decrease of 1,101, or 9.5 percent, from the 2000 tabulation of 11,499.
Gumbo is a stew popular in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and is the official state cuisine. Gumbo consists primarily of a strongly flavored stock, meat or shellfish, a thickener, and the Creole "holy trinity" – celery, bell peppers, and onions. Gumbo is often categorized by the type of thickener used, whether okra or filé powder.
A capuchon is a cone-shaped ceremonial hat worn during the Mardi Gras celebration in the Cajun areas of southern Louisiana, known as the Courir de Mardi Gras. The rural celebration is based on early begging rituals, similar to those still celebrated by mummers, wassailers and celebrants of Halloween. As Mardi Gras is the celebration of the final day before Lent, celebrants drink and eat heavily, but dress in costume, ostensibly to protect their identities.
Mary Alice Fontenot, born in Eunice, Louisiana, was a noted author of regional children's books, best known for the Clovis Crawfish series published by Pelican Publishing, a collection of eighteen books featuring animals from the Louisiana bayou. The books are written in English and sprinkled with Cajun words, with an explanation of their pronunciation and meaning.
The Lafayette–Opelousas–Morgan City combined statistical area is made up of seven parishes in the Acadiana region of southern Louisiana. The statistical area consists of the Lafayette Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and two micropolitical statistical areas (μSAs) – Opelousas, Louisiana Micropolitical Statistical Area and Morgan City, Louisiana Micropolitical Statistical Area. The region consists of seven parishes: Acadia, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, and Vermilion Parishes. As of the 2010 census, the CSA had a population of 604,784.
The Courir de Mardi Gras is a traditional Mardi Gras event held in many Cajun and Creole communities of French Louisiana on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Courir de Mardi Gras is Louisiana French for "Fat Tuesday Run". This rural Mardi Gras celebration is based on early begging rituals, similar to those still celebrated by mummers, wassailers, and celebrants of Halloween. As Mardi Gras is the celebration of the final day before Lent, celebrants drink and eat heavily, dressing in specialized costumes, ostensibly to protect their identities. In Acadiana, popular practices include wearing masks and costumes, overturning social conventions, dancing, drinking alcohol, begging, trail riding, feasting, and whipping. Mardi Gras is one of the few occasions when people are allowed to publicly wear masks in Louisiana. Dance for a Chicken: The Cajun Mardi Gras, a documentary by filmmaker Pat Mire, provides great insight into the history and evolution of this cultural tradition. In popular culture, two HBO series also make reference to the tradition.
Mardi Gras in the United States is not observed nationally across the country, largely due to the country's Protestant and Anglo-Saxon roots. Mardi Gras and Carnival are mostly Catholic holidays, while the United States has a Protestant-majority population. However, a number of cities and regions in the U.S. have notable Mardi Gras or Carnival celebrations. Most of these places trace their Mardi Gras celebrations to French, Spanish, and other Catholic colonial influences on the settlements over their history. The earliest Carnival celebration in North America occurred at a place on the west bank of the Mississippi River about 60 miles (97 km) downriver from where New Orleans is today; this Mardi Gras on March 3, 1699, and in honor of this holiday, Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, a 38-year-old French Canadian, named the spot Point du Mardi Gras near Fort Jackson. The earliest organized Carnival celebrations occurred in Mobile, then the capitol of French Louisiana known as Fort Louis de la Mobile, where in 1704 the first known Carnival secret society. In 1856, six Mobile natives established the first secret society, or krewe, in New Orleans, the Mistick Krewe of Comus. Former French and Spanish colonies such as Pensacola, Biloxi, and settlements along the Gulf Coast all followed suit in incorporating Carnival into their annual celebrations, which today have developed either separate traditions or variations of them from one another. In addition, modern activities generally vary from city to city across the U.S.
Egan is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Acadia Parish, Louisiana, United States, located between Crowley and Jennings along Louisiana Highway 100, approximately two and one-half miles north of Midland near Bayou Jonas. The community is a part of the Crowley Micropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 631.
Louisiana Highway 98 (LA 98) is a state highway located in southern Louisiana. It runs 47.76 miles (76.86 km) in an east–west direction from the junction of LA 97 and LA 1123 west of Iota to the Lafayette–St. Martin parish line east of Carencro.
Louisiana Highway 100 (LA 100) is a state highway located in Acadia Parish, Louisiana. It runs 14.83 miles (23.87 km) in an east–west direction from LA 97 in Evangeline to LA 13 in Crowley.
