#baker-louisiana

#baker-louisiana

"Nothing is allowed that has gluten in it. We have a zero-tolerance policy on having any gluten in our kitchen or pantries."

Dooky Chase's Restaurant has been a culinary landmark in New Orleans, known for its signature dishes like fried chicken and gumbo, attracting celebrities and political figures alike.

[To make] Cajun-style deviled eggs, which actually sounds like a great idea, I would mix Creole mustard, Cajun spice, and crispy andouille into the egg yolk mix and garnish a piece of crispy andouille on top with charred corn kernels or crispy fried onions as well.

The territory was named La Louisiane in 1682 by French explorer René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle, in honor of King Louis XIV, who claimed for France the vast Mississippi River basin. When French settlers later founded New Orleans in 1718, the region quickly became a center of French culture in North America.

It's a standard trope in portrayals of assimilated Jews to open with a scene built around a Christmas tree. That's how Tom Stoppard's " Leopoldstadt" and Alfred Uhry's " Last Night of Ballyhoo" begin, and also Ian Buruma's memoir about his grandparents, " Their Promised Land." The idea is, as soon as you show that, you've got the audience's full attention, especially if it's a Jewish audience, because it's so peculiar.

The idea of an Indian meat and three seemed like a perfect mash-up. The LUFU guys really put on a show. They had their tandoor in the parking lot and were making fresh naan for every plate.

At first glance, Buck & Johnny's, a restaurant just outside Lafayette, Louisiana, looks unremarkable: a warehouse-like space with exposed brick, a large dance floor, and walls decorated with football helmets and old oil company signs. Then, a five-piece band strikes up in the corner. Louisiana zydeco rolls across the room, driven by accordion and the full-body washboard frottoir (a percussion instrument). Couples of all ages gravitate to the dance floor, stepping, spinning, and swaying with varying degrees of confidence.

Many of the great wonders of the world, from iconic buildings to national parks, are preserved and open to the public, but some are tucked away on private land where only a few can enjoy them. One such wonder-a natural spring-fed lake just an hour north of New Orleans-opened to the public for the first time last summer, giving Louisianans and visitors access to a surreal, bright-blue lake lined with white sand beaches.

I'm chowing down on a mini King Cake, my breakfast. It's a braided cinnamon Danish sprinkled with purple, green, and gold edible glitter, with a cream cheese filling and a little plastic baby perched astride. The baby represents the infant Jesus and is said to bring luck (and an obligation to host the next fête, if he shows up in your slice.)

The Creole Nature Trail is a 180-mile scenic byway that cuts through Louisiana's Cajun Country, also known as Acadiana. The area, which is often called "Louisiana's Outback," is different from the Louisiana you thought you knew; instead of bayous, this part of the state is home to vast marshes, coastal prairies, waterways, and undeveloped Gulf beaches. And it's all accessible off of the Creole Nature Trail.