Food For Thought

Râpure for lunch, gumbo for supper, or vice versa. Those are the staple meals in my household during the holidays.

Here's a little history before I go on.

I'm a Le Blanc from Nova-Scotia, Canada. Actually, from Pointe-de-l’Église (Church-Point), Nova-Scotia, Canada.

The motherland.

My mother is a direct descendant of Joseph and Marie Dugas, the first to settle in that region of Nova-Scotia.

(Side note: Joseph Dugas was also related to another Joseph Dugas who commandeered an English ship with Beausoleil Broussard during the Deportation of the Acadians)

I guess that's where I get my hard hardheadedness!

So I, a Le Blanc from Nova-Scotia, married a Falgout from Bayou Lafourche.

And from that liaison were born three beautiful coonass, French speaking children from Lafayette, Louisiana.

Seeing our children flourish in an environment where two cultures, that complement each other so well, come together like white on rice (or potatoes) has been a wonderful experience.

The cross pollination of these two worlds, one spawned from the other, makes for pretty cute kids....and vocabulary:-)

It always cracks me up to hear my children refer to their brother or sister as ''canaille'' or when they start a sentence with “y'all”.

But I think the thing that warms my heart the most, is when my daughter (who's menu of choice includes macaroni, spaghetti, quesadillas....and that's it) asks for a second helping of râpure.

(Second [and last] side note: Râpure is a potato dish that is comparable, culturally, to the Cajun's gumbo. It's made of potato pulp, chicken, chicken broth, lard, salt and pepper. Sounds good no?)

As I'm filling her plate, I can't help but feel proud, connected to my mom, her mom and all the moms before her. And I know my husband feels the same way when the kids are devouring his gumbo (with the potato salad in it).

Many people have asked the question, ''How do you live your Acadian (Cajun) culture?” Well in our house, the biggest attestations to our cultures happen in our mouths...language and food.

It’s our gateway to our past, our people.......our children's people.

Bon appétit and go Saints!!!