Louisiana.... Food Network Style

I've been in Louisiana for work recently. With travel to the Pelican State, comes the great tastes of the state. Here are some I have greatly enjoyed in my time here.

Crawfish

The best crawfish I have found come from a roadside stand. I personally go to "Crawfish to Go" on Hwy 171 in Leesville. The two ladies working in there are true Cajuns, and sometimes I feel as if I need a translator to communicate with them. They take credit cards, with work travel, is always a plus. They also make this great dip, which is a mayonnaise based sauce that you get with your mud bugs. The farther into the season it is, the cheaper they get per pound. We are down to 2.49/ lb now, from 3.99 when I was here in February.

Prejeans, Lafayette. I stopped here on my way back from Baton Rouge. I ordered some gumbo. It was fabulous! Spicy, full of seafood. I also got a fried roll with this order. There is nothing quite like fried bread. Imagine a warm, doughnut with no sugar. Sooooooo delicious. They have a live webcam in the restaurant which would have been fun to wave to people at home, had I been prepared. They also have live music in the evenings, but I was there too early.

Parrain's, Baton Rouge.
As mentioned before, I need a translator to speak Cajun. When the front desk worker at the hotel suggested I try "Pie-rans," I was surprised to see the spelling of the restaurant. I had crawfish etoufee here, a salad, and another fabulous fried roll. I was adventurous and ordered the Tabasco Green Pepper Jelly Vinaigrette. WOW. It was one of the best salad dressings I've ever eaten, spicy, sweet, sour...all in one bite. The etoufee had a creamy texture to it, that I absolutely loved.