IMG_8833.jpg

Who’s Your Mama, Are You Catholic and Can You Make a Roux?

by Marcelle Bienvenu

$24.95

“Who’s Your Mama, Are You Catholic and Can You Make A Roux?” is an authentic look at the cuisine and culture of the people of South Louisiana. This is a cookbook that you’ll use over and over again. It contains time-honored recipes for the classic dishes of Cajun and Creole cooking, which author Marcelle Bienvenu has lovingly collected from her family and friends.

But this book is more than just a guide to preparing great meals. It’s also the story of a woman born into a tight-knit family in the French-Acadian region of Louisiana, where good cooking is an enduring passion. After reading this book, you’ll understand how South Louisiana people cook…and how they live.

Review presented by: Books Along The Teche

337-367-7621 | 106 E. Main St., New Iberia

Artists: Suzanne and Angelique Juneau

Medium: Jewelry / Metal

Work: Girls with Pearls

Available at: Sans Souci Fine Crafts Gallery

Price: $157

Suzanne and Angelique Juneau, a mother-daughter artist team, create organic and whimsical pieces of artisan jewelry by hand every day in their workshop in Scott. Suzanne, who helped found the Louisiana Crafts Guild, is a master craftsman, having worked in metal for over 40 years, and Angelique followed in the trade. Girls with Pearls, featuring amethyst, pearl, copper, bronze and silver, is just one of the duo’s many original works. The men of the family are the father-son artists known for their colorful folk art metalwork seen dancing across lamp posts in Downtown Lafayette. To learn more about these artists and to see more of their work, visit psjuneau.com/suzanne-angelique or search their names at louisianacrafts.org.

Artists: David Wattigny

Medium: Digital Illustration

Work: Evangeline Sign

Available at: Spot for Tea and facebook.com/david.wattigny

Price: $30

As an art teacher at Catholic High School, David Wattigny’s profession and hobby oftentimes overlap. During lockdown, while teaching a virtual unit on one of his favorite painters Edward Hopper, he felt a surge of creativity. He saw the similarities between Hopper’s Art Deco cityscapes, with their clean lines and angles, and Main Street New Iberia. “I love the historic signs and architecture of Main Street New Iberia,” Wattigny commented. “It makes me oddly nostalgic for a time I didn’t live in.” Wattigny digitally drew the iconic image of the Evangeline sign using Adobe Illustrator. Inspired by the sign’s recent restoration, Wattigny’s final product reflects a minimalist approach absent the building and marquee. The artist has plans to use the same technique to draw other recognizable signs and architecture in New Iberia.

Artist: Rick Kom

Medium: Etching

Work: Seafood Trio

Available at: rickkom.com and Lafayette Farmers and Artisan Market

Price: $70-$270

Over the last 30 years, Rick Kom has perfected his unique etching technique and turned it into a thriving business. Similar to scrimshaw on ivory engravings, his method uses a sewing needle to etch into a black ink surface revealing the white kaolin clay underneath. Using a brush and opaque watercolors, he then creates a life-like 3-D effect. The self-taught artist grew up in Idaho, but moved to Lafayette when he “fell in love with a Cajun girl.” While he specializes in commissioned pet portraits, his subject matter also includes local seafood, wildlife, landscapes and school memorabilia. You can find him at the Lafayette Farmers and Artisan Market, where he displays a wide range of framed art, trivets, and magnets featuring his original work.