Feed your soul. That may be the tagline for tourism when it comes to the state of Louisiana, but it’s fitting when it comes to specifically its food. And some say a way to someone’s heart is through cooking.
When in New Orleans, there’s no better way to learn what the city has to offer than through its food, and what’s better than learning how to cook it? The Mardi Gras School of Cooking ( themardigrasschoolofcooking.com ) is a fun way to learn how to cook traditional Creole and Cajun dishes with recipes you can take home and share the food passion. Cooking classes are offered where students are paired up to learn how to cook dishes such as chicken and andouille sausage gumbo, shrimp étouffée and bananas foster.
Chef Mark Falgoust is one of the highlights of the classes and teaches his students the finer points of southern dining with great passion and humour. “It’s all simple and it’s comfort food,” Falgoust says. “It’s the type of food like stews, soups and gravy that sticks to your ribs and most everyone likes in a meal.
I just think Louisiana food has that same thing.” For Falgoust, who began his culinary journey at age 19, classic foods bring back memories of cooking with his family. “To me that’s what home is,” he says.
Something as simple as a French accordion can unlock an entire genre of music. There certainly was plenty of music at the visitors’ centre in the parish of St. Landry, where Jeffery Broussard, of Jeff the band Jeffery Br.
