The lack of Texas-style barbecue joints in Louisiana is an enduring mystery.
Certainly, none of us who make frequent trips are complaining when it comes to the bounty of Cajun and Creole cuisine. Still, a taste of home would be a nice change of pace on our occasional sojourns across the Sabine River.
Why are there so few beef-centric barbecue joints in Louisiana? Like most things associated with the Pelican State, Louisianians like to do it their way, especially when it comes to food. And when it comes to barbecue, as defined by smoked meats, that often takes place in backyards and public celebrations.
If you have family in Louisiana, then you have no doubt been to a boucherie, translated as “butchery,” in which whole hogs are butchered and turned into many various and delicious items such as cracklins, headcheese, boudin rouge and cowboy stew, as well as more traditional cuts of smoked pork.
For big celebrations, that means cochon de lait. Translated as “suckling pig,” the barbecue technique features long rows of burning coals flanked by whole pigs attached to wire racks. The Cochon de Lait Festival in Mansura, La., always attracts big crowds in the spring — it is scheduled to resume May 6-9 this year after being canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic.
1111 St. John St., Lafayette, La., 337-269-8878
The closest you may get to a Texas barbecue joint in Louisiana will be at meat markets such as T-Boy’s Slaughter House in Mamou. Though such establishments have some beef offerings, they still have mainly pork-based menus, with smoked sausages being the focus, as well as the Cajun specialty known as ponce, which is a pig’s stomach stuffed with seasoned and smoked ground pork.
Another classic Louisiana barbecue joint is Johnson’s Boucaniere in Lafayette, which offers a full slate of creative Cajun favorites. There is the requisite chicken-and-sausage gumbo as well as some of the best boudin in the state.
But two of the menu items here stand out for barbecue connoisseurs. Johnson’s specializes in “country-style” pork ribs, which are unique to Louisiana barbecue. This cut of pork is closer to the shoulder, rather than the belly, where traditional spareribs are located.
Johnson’s smokes these boneless ribs until fork-tender and coats them in a not-too-sweet, house-made barbecue sauce. I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing this cut of pork on menus closer to home.
The one item that keeps me coming back here, though, is the boudin-stuffed grilled cheese sandwich: buttery toast encasing melty cheese and big dollops of boudin that’s been squeezed out of the casing, combined with a slick of barbecue sauce. You can also get pulled pork or brisket in place of the boudin.
All that said, if a Texan is still craving Texas barbecue while over the state line, there are a couple of options that have opened in the past few years. Both Blanchard’s BBQ in Lafayette and Paul’s Rib Shack in Lake Charles are serving legitimate Central Texas-style barbecue.
It’s certainly hard to pin down exactly what Louisiana barbecue is. Unlike Central Texas-style barbecue in which myth-making goes hand in hand with barbecue-making, smoked-meat traditions across the border are more nuanced and often take a back seat to the myth-made traditions of boudin and gumbo.
There are lots of smoked meats in Louisiana, though mostly pork, and often stuffed into a sausage casing, if you know where to look.
jcreid@jcreidtx.com
twitter.com/jcreidtx
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April 17, 2021 at 12:11AM
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When it comes to barbecue, Louisianians like to do it their way - Houston Chronicle
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