three hours west of New Orleans by car - for the notorious Mardi Gras run. "But Cajun Mardi Gras is another thing entirely - closer to the ancient French tradition, vaguely more dangerous, downright medieval."īourdain goes to Mamou, La. "Ordinarily, I loathe the idea of Mardi Gras," Bourdain narrates. In New Orleans, the Catholic holiday is marked with parades, parties, plastic beads and jazz music on the last day before Lent. The vast patchwork of saltwater marshes, bayous, and prairie land that make up Cajun country is one of those places."įor his final episode from the region, Bourdain attended a Cajun Mardi Gras, which this year fell in February. "Cultures all their own, kept close, much loved but largely misunderstood. "There are parts of America that are special, unique, unlike anywhere else," Bourdain says on Parts Unknown. He captured a region influenced culturally and environmentally by generations of intermingling French, Africans, Native Americans, and Europeans.
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The owner rode with Bourdain, still seated, like battered royalty back to his hotel.īourdain returned to the area to film for each of his three ensuing TV series – in New Orleans in 20, Cajun country in 2011, and most recently, back in Lafayette. He was overfed at a "VIP" table in the bed of an old pickup truck outside Jacques-Imo's Cafe. His first foray was a 2003 episode of his early Food Network show, A Cook's Tour. just to have that person come here and say, 'You guys, your food is good' – that was an honor."īourdain cherished southern Louisiana. "It was the reality of, 'Damn, he is not able to watch,' " Broussard tells NPR. Locals say Bourdain captured the subtleties of their culture and cuisine, even if at times some thought he overemphasized alcohol. Restaurant workers dole out chicken fricassee at the "Taste of EatLafayette" festival in the sprawling Cajundome arena in Lafayette, Louisiana.
(Bourdain had described the outlet's macaroni and cheese as "exotic," Broussard says.) The evening had a somber cast, she says. The 60 guests ate a dinner of fried chicken from Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen. (Daniella Cheslow)īroussard screened the episode at her restaurant when it aired June 17 Lemelle and Williams joined and answered questions during commercial breaks. Bourdain featured Broussard and her turkey wings in one of the last episodes of Parts Unknown. Madonna Broussard papered her soda machine with a recent article featuring Anthony Bourdain in the parking lot of her restaurant, Laura's II in Lafayette, La.
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They discuss how black cowboys descended from African slaves and free men are believed to be the first American cattle herders in the plains and bayous of Louisiana. In the episode, called Cajun Mardi Gras, Bourdain sits at a table in Broussard's restaurant with "Creole Cowboy" Dave Lemelle, local musician and business owner Sid Williams and zydeco music historian Herman Fuselier. It was Broussard's wings that Bourdain said drew him "like a heat-seeking missile" in one of the last episodes to air of his CNN show, Parts Unknown.
In South Louisiana, where Bourdain returned time and again, he is particularly mourned and beloved.
In the days and weeks following the June 8 death by suicide of the TV host and chef, tributes have poured in from around the world. On a recent afternoon she checked on the marinating turkey wings, passing by photos of Anthony Bourdain taped to her soda machine near the cash register. Madonna Broussard stuffs about 80 turkey wings with garlic and seasonings each afternoon, packs them into nine aluminum pans, then bakes the wings to give them a crispy bite that contrasts with the soft, gravy-soaked rice underneath. The turkey wings at Laura's II in Lafayette, La., have been made using the same recipe for three generations.
Rodriguez says the late Bourdain was accurate and unflinching in his portrayal of Cajun country. Now he plans to open a restaurant in New Orleans with Barrett Dupuis (right) as general manager. Toby Rodriguez (left) launched a career as a traveling butcher after he was featured on a 2011 episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations.
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