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Boudin
Boudin (pronounced "boo-DAN" in Acadiana) is the defining sausage of Cajun Louisiana — pork, pork liver, cooked rice, the trinity, and Cajun seasoning stuffed into a natural casing and steamed or simmered until the casing is taut and the filling is a soft, spreadable, intensely flavoured paste. It descends from French boudin blanc (white blood sausage) but has evolved so far from its ancestor that a French charcutier might not recognise the connection. In Cajun Louisiana, boudin is gas station food, convenience store food, tailgate food — sold by the link at a thousand small-town shops, each with their own recipe and their own loyal customers. The boudin trail through Acadiana — Scott, Jennings, Eunice, Opelousas, Breaux Bridge — is one of the great food pilgrimage routes in America.
Pork shoulder and liver (the liver is essential — it provides the mineral, iron-rich depth that separates boudin from stuffed rice) are braised together with onion, celery, bell pepper, and Cajun seasoning until completely tender, then ground or processed and mixed with cooked long-grain rice, green onion tops, and parsley. The ratio is roughly equal parts meat and rice by volume, though every boudin maker guards their exact ratio. The mixture is stuffed into natural casings — not tightly, because the rice expands slightly — and simmered or steamed until the casing is firm and the filling is hot throughout.
Natchitoches Meat Pies
The Natchitoches (*NAK-uh-tush*) meat pie — a half-moon shaped, deep-fried hand pie filled with seasoned ground beef and pork — is the signature food of Natchitoches, the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase territory (established 1714). The meat pie tradition in Natchitoches predates the Cajun settlement of southern Louisiana and reflects the Creole fusion of the northern part of the state: French pastry technique, Spanish *empanada* influence, and the indigenous and African filling traditions that shaped the specific seasoning. Lasyone's Meat Pie Restaurant, operating since 1967 on Second Street in Natchitoches, is the most famous purveyor and the standard against which all others are measured.
A crescent-shaped hand pie, approximately 15cm long, with a thin, golden, slightly sweet pastry shell that shatters when bitten, enclosing a filling of seasoned ground beef and pork with the trinity, garlic, cayenne, and black pepper. The filling should be moist but not wet — the meat mixture cooked and seasoned before filling so the pastry doesn't become soggy. The crust should be thin enough that the first bite goes cleanly through both pastry and filling.