Dana Cormier serves up boudin at The Best Stop Supermarket near Lafayette, Louisiana. "Some people eat it right out of the steamer; others use a fork," Dana says. "I've even seen people eat it with cane syrup."

The amazing food culture of Acadiana, the Cajun and Creole region of Louisiana, is like a gumbo: rich, spicy, and layered with flavor. Many hands seasoned this pot, fashioning a unique and vibrant cuisine that borrowed from one another's dishes and used local ingredients. I want to taste them all.

Where Bayou Meets Beignets
I start at New Orleans's landmark Café du Monde, which serves two of the region's most perfectly simple concoctions--café au lait and beignets (ben-YAYS). The hot milk-chicory coffee combination is divine, and St. Peter himself couldn't resist the powdered sugar-laden doughnuts still warm from the fryer. On St. Louis Street, I spy a brightly painted bread truck in front of Johnny's Po-Boys. If you've enjoyed a many-layered muffuletta, a crusty po'boy piled with fried oysters, or sliced bread at an elegant establishment, chances are it was a Leidenheimer's loaf. "It's traditional New Orleans French bread, with a thin, crisp crust and a light, airy interior," says Sandy Whann, great-grandson of the founder.

Left: Cajun meets Southern on these plate lunches at Dunbar's in New Orleans. Right: Wellington Brown has been delivering Leidenheimer's bread to fine-dining restaurants and po'boy shops in New Orleans for 15 years.

Start With a Roux
In Lafayette, the capital of Cajun food, I talk with food expert Sandra Day. She says, "Typically, many Cajun entrées are one-pot dishes, cooked a long time. Just about everything has a gravy that's served over rice." But she debunks the idea that Cajun food is very hot. "With the exception of a couple of dishes that are intended to be spicy, Cajun food should be well seasoned and lightly peppered," she emphasizes.

Most of these dishes start with a roux--flour browned in fat. Whether light or dark in color, roux lends a dusky richness to a variety of dishes.

Sarah Theriot Voisin and her husband, Mike, of Houma, Louisiana, greet me warmly when I join their extended family for a meal of chicken fricassee (FRIHK-uh-see), green beans, potato salad, and pecan cake. Sarah's fricassee, a stew served over rice, is flavored mainly by a roux and "the trinity": bell pepper, onion, and celery. "We're French, so everything is about eating," Sarah says with a laugh.

That's Boudin, Y'all
Walk into any convenience store in the Lafayette area, and you'll find a rice steamer full of boudin (boo-DAHN) links on the counter. The Best Stop Supermarket, a few miles outside of town, makes and sells nearly 2,000 pounds of boudin a day. Dana Cormier of The Best Stop says, "It's kind of like rice dressing. It's pork meat, rice, a lot of seasoning, and pork liver all mixed together. The ingredients are all cooked before we stuff it in the casings."

At Artesia in Abita Springs, Chris Combel and Vicky Bayley merge down-home Cajun and fine dining in dishes such as roasted chicken with andouille dressing.

Upscale Meets Down-Home
At Artesia in Abita Springs, Louisiana, chef Chris Combel gives Cajun classics white-tablecloth flair. "A lot of people in this area are used to down-home cooking," he says, "so we want to serve upscale food that is familiar." His cornbread-andouille sausage dressing and smothered cabbage tell me he's found the perfect balance.

This article is from the Favorites 2005 issue of Southern Living.