Page 32 - Waves Magazine July 2019

CAJUN CORNER:

CAJUN|TEXAS INFLUENCES

by: Christopher Bergeron

In this installment of the Cajun Corner Series, we will look at some of the Cajun-influenced

dining scenes on the Island. There are a few that are “right in your face” with strong “Cajun”
marketing campaigns. There are others that have dishes of Cajun influence but not
necessarily marketed as a “Cajun” Restaurant. Let’s take a look.

“Born and raised in
Thibodaux, Louisiana in ‘78,
I relocated to Texas in 2007,
first to League City then to
Galveston Island.

It is astounding the number Cajun Roux Creole Roux
of Louisiana folks that call
Texas home. One doesn’t
have to venture far to find outh Louisiana & Cajun are that of New Orleans. Flavors remain
similarities between Cajun blanket terms used by sev- unchanged. There are generations upon
eral restaurants to flaunt
generations of folks cooking the same
and Texas culture. Food, Cajun-inspired menu choices. way their ancestors did; my father being
music, celebrations and a SWhat gets lost in these broad one of them. He loathed the commer-
deep sense of family are all terms is that while most restaurants say cial restaurant scene, particularly if they
evidence that Texas culture “Cajun”, they lean towards more of a claimed “Authentic Cajun Cooking”,
has influenced Cajun culture New Orleans characteristic, which is not as he felt it lacked the culture of true
just as much as Cajun culture Cajun at all. Cajun cooking.
has influenced Texas Culture;
to the point where it’s practi- While New Orleans is part of what is I may be biased as the “down and dirty”
cally indistinguishable. commonly called “The Deep South” (meaning GOOD) cajun cooking is what
culturally, there’s a unique socio-ethnic I grew up on and my father was a hell
This column highlights many composition there that makes New Or- of a Cajun cook. He constantly said if
of the similarities in cuisine, leans a different socio-cultural enclave you have to specify that you are a Cajun,
music, lifestyle and good than most of the rest of The Deep then you are really not a Cajun. People
folks that keep the roots of South, i.e. South Louisiana, i.e. Cajun just know. Especially if they sit at your
Cajun culture alive right here Country. That can be realized in the table.
on the Island. So, let’s roll. “ cuisine, specifically.
After several years of living in New
-Christopher Bergeron In my Cajun country hometown, Thi- Orleans before moving to Texas, I was
bodaux, Louisiana, the flavors and introduced to the New Orleans so-
techniques are much different from cio-cultural flavors that I define more

32 | Waves Magazine | July 2019 Issue