The guest room was cleaned within an inch of its life, the bed freshly made and spritzed with elegant linen spray, the bougie toiletries restocked. My sister, the oldest, was coming in for a visit – and plans were hatching. 

Kathy, or Katherine as she’s known anywhere other than her state of origin, had but one request: copious amounts of the Louisiana foods she misses and can’t get in Tennessee. Given my woefully limited cooking skills (scrambled eggs teeter on maxing out my culinary abilities), I decided to put things in the hands of the professionals and promptly contacted Cajun Food Tours’ owner Marie Ducote. 

“Y’all have never been on a food tour?” she both asked and exclaimed simultaneously. “Once you’ve had a food tour, you’ll never take a regular tour again!” 

Indeed. The three-hour experience included five stops, delicious Cajun food, engaging history about the dishes we sampled, and the company of 11 others, each equally delighted to be there. The experience began when a perky little tour bus, wrapped in bright orange graphics, pulled up to a prearranged hotel location in Lafayette and beckoned us to board. Each of us passengers (13 including Kathy and myself) received a warm and hearty welcome from Ducote, our tour guide for the day, and a personalized name tag, which is just one of the many details she’s incorporated and perfected during the 1,700 tours she’s given over the years. 

The bus is nothing short of fabulous – comfortably seats 14 passengers, cool when it needs to be, illuminated with twinkle lights, and decorated in Cajun Food Tour merch (emblazoned with tagline “Allons Manger!”) and strings of tiny Tabasco bottles. We began by introducing ourselves and telling the group where we are from and what brought us to take the tour that day. There was the group of retired teachers from Alexandria – for a few of them, it was their second time on the tour and they wanted to share the experience with the others. “You have to be below I-10 for good food,” one said with a laugh. Also on board were a couple from Texas celebrating their anniversary, another couple that drove in from Mississippi on a whim, and a returning customer who brought along her daughter and grandson (a student at LSU) to experience the tour. 

I was surprised that so many of the day’s attendees were repeat customers and that many lived within driving distance to Lafayette. “Over half of my business drives in for the day,” Ducote confirms.

On with the show. Ducote sat behind the wheel of the tour bus, simultaneously (and adeptly) maneuvering Lafayette traffic while regaling us with stories about Acadiana and its long love affair with food. Ducote’s earlier years as a Louisiana history teacher were evident in her ability to mix anecdotes with facts, all the while, holding our attention with confident ease. Born in Houma and later raised in New Iberia, her Cajun accent and French phraseology are delightful, and her love for her culture is all the more charming. 

Ducote is a relative late-comer to the tour business. After 14 years teaching and nine as an administrator, she was becoming increasingly tired of working in education when, by chance, she took a food tour in Maine that changed her life. “I had the overwhelming and immediate knowledge that I would be running a food tour of my own,” she recalled. “I tried very hard to pray it away.” But, after much prayer, certainty took over, and Ducote launched Cajun Food Tours a little over 10 years ago. 

Our first stop of the day was Bon Temps Grill, where wait staff welcomed us with a large bowl of gumbo, rich and dark with chicken and spicy sausage. I was warned by a veteran customer not to eat the entire bowl because it would fill me up too much to enjoy the rest of the tour – but, alas, the advice did not stick and I ate to my heart’s content. While we dined, Ducote sat with us and told us the history of gumbo in the area, explaining why gumbos from New Orleans look a little different than ones in Acadiana and how the great okra debate lives on. Before long we hear, “Allons manger!” It’s the rallying cry Ducote uses to signal it’s time to load up and head to the next stop.

Earl’s Cajun Market was next on our route – a pleasant surprise that speaks to the thoughtful way Ducote plans each of her tours. There we viewed with downright glee the specialty meat items lining the refrigerated shelves, pre-packaged and ready to take home (which some did). We listened as Ducote explained how boudin has evolved from containing all the animal’s leftover parts (and blood) to being a culinary staple of Boston butt or pork shoulder, rice and trinity seasoning.  A platter of boudin was presented to us, from which we each took a piece and made noises of delight. “Earl’s has the most photogenic boudin in Acadiana,” Ducote declared. I personally thought it was the best I’d ever tasted, and Ducote advised the group to try different ones, find your favorite, then go get a t-shirt and shout it from the rooftops. Team Earl’s for the win!

Next on the itinerary was Cajun Table, a restaurant that began more like an upstart than an eatery, with owners first borrowing other restaurant spaces after they closed, nightly transforming them into their own Cajun Table. Now at its very own (now expanded) location, we sat at a long table and enjoyed individual helpings of Miss Kay’s Cajun Nachos – a scrumptious cheesy concoction topped with fried crawfish and served over crispy flour “nachos”. On this day, restaurant owners also arranged for a generous helping of fried catfish, which attendees agreed was near perfect – something Ducote attributed to the freshness of the fish and the type of breading they use. 

“Allons manger!” And we were off once again to one of the biggest surprises of the tour: Dean-O’s Pizza. I couldn’t imagine what we’d have to eat at a pizza joint that would be fit for a Cajun food tour, but the Cajun Executioner pizza did not disappoint. In a move that is customary for Ducote, she wanted to show the group how even the most un-Cajun foods can be made Cajun (and oh-so spicy). This pizza pie – with its spicy shrimp, hot sausage, pepperoni, onions, bell peppers and a hearty helping of jalapenos on top – fit the bill. It’s one of Ducote’s favorite pizzas, which she revealed is the primary way she chooses the restauranants and dishes she requests: give ‘em what you like! And always in the spirit of lagniappe, Dean-O’s frequently throws in some extras for their food tour guests. On this day, it was Cajun egg rolls, fried oreos and the pizza of the month, Cajun Violation, with smoked boudin, caramelized onions and pepper-jack cheese. And that crust! 

When plates were clean and we heard the now-familiar rallying cry, we realized (to our dismay) the tour only had one stop left. We were pleasantly full but eager and open to what was next, and it would prove to be the perfect cap to the day. After all, what would a great afternoon of Cajun cuisine be without the dessert of all Louisiana desserts? You guessed it: king cake was on the menu! 

I must admit, I’m not one to seek out king cake. If it’s there in front of me and there’s little to no chance I’ll get the baby, I’m in. But on this day, things were different because, on this day…we went to Poupart Bakery. We were greeted with a smell that was out of this sugar-loving world, a pot of fresh coffee, and a pecan cinnamon cream cheese king cake fit for, well, a king. Running the risk of repeating myself (again), it was honestly the best king cake I’ve ever tasted. The bread had that just-right doughy feel and the filling was beyond generous. 

After coffee and dessert, and one last rallying cry from Ducote, we headed to the bus and returned to the hotel. We said our goodbyes to the other guests – after a half day of visiting and breaking bread together, there was a connection – and we thanked our gracious host for showing us foods we thought we knew in another light, from a different angle and from the perspective of others’ eyes and cultures. 

The day was truly a culinary experience, for residents and tourists alike.

Check it out:

Cajun Food Tours

cajunfoodtours.com

337-230-6169

marie@cajunfoodtours.com