Since being introduced in the Americas, horses effortlessly wove themselves into the day to day life of a burgeoning United States. As a creature synonymous with both a hard day’s work and a sense of freedom, it is no wonder that this animal lends itself so well to the idea of America. With nearly 300 horse-related events going on across Louisiana, as reported by Louisiana Horse Tourism, it is obvious now that the horse has solidified its place once again in recreation.

It is nearly impossible to talk about horse culture without bringing to mind the romanticized era of cowboys, railroads, and the rowdy West of a time past. But for St. Landry Parish, that relationship with horses reaches as far back as the 1760s. During this time of French colonialism, free men of color as well as French-speaking slaves from Africa, were tasked with managing thousands of cattle, driving the animals south to the bustling New Orleans. “And the horses and the mules were better treated than he as the caretaker,” said Conni Castille the University of Louisiana at Lafayette professor. She’s the brain behind “T-Galop: A Louisiana Horse Story”, a documentary detailing the role of the horse in south Louisiana history, interview with the Daily Advertiser.

That initial connection to horses in the emerging Creole culture carries into today. Trail rides are a tradition that celebrates this work-and-play relationship. It gives this Creole cowboy culture a way of being preserved and existing as a massive party with zydeco and traditional foods, like oxtails and tripe in your belly. The Step and Strut trail ride is one such event that originated in St. Landry Parish, but recently had success in Texas. The town of Lebeau has recently sought to revive their trail riding community with the Lebeau Posse Trail Ride in the summer. This is not the only aspect of horse culture in the parish, however.

The women of St. Landry Parish are keeping up the tradition of spectacular horsemanship. Mia Manzanares, an Opelousas native, is the two-time women’s all-around rodeo champion at the College National Finals Rodeo. She’s also the Champion in goat tying with a time of 5.9 seconds, tied the arena record of 1.7 seconds in breakaway roping, and gave the Women’s Team Championship to her college, McNeese State University. And she did all that with a torn ACL, an injury that often ends athletic careers.

The Academy of the Sacred Heart in Grand Coteau, famously the sight of the only Vatican-recognized miracle in America, has an equestrian center that trains students in three disciplines, including hunter/jumper, dressage, and western. These students are given the option to compete or just enjoy their newfound skills recreationally. Weekend lessons and horse boarding are available to non-Sacred Heart students by arrangement. You can also tour the grounds with sprawling oaks and their 1850s barn that is on the National Register of Historic Places.

St. Landry Parish is special to horse tourism in another way. It has one of Louisiana’s four racinos, a combination of a casino and racetrack. Louisiana is one of 10 states where the combination is legal. Evangeline Downs Racetrack and Casino hosts thoroughbred and quarter horse racing seasonally, which often coincides with live regional music ranging from zydeco to country. While the concept of racinos have been around since the mid-90s, Evangeline Downs is the first racino in the country to be built from the ground up.

From cowboys to horse racing, there’s a lot of traditional horse culture to see here in St. Landry Parish.

Stellar horsemanship doesn’t just take place in the rodeo arena or on manicured tracks here in St. Landry Parish, though we have those too. Whether you want to participate in a trail ride, a Mardi Gras run, or simply want to connect to horses on a more personal level, St. Landry Parish has something for you.

Mary Hawkins is the communications manager for the St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission. Contact her at hawkins@cajuntravel.com.

Louisiana is often called the “Hollywood of the South”. In the past 15 years, over 400 movies have had scenes shot within our diverse state. This is in part due to the up to 40% Motion Picture Production Tax Credit program for qualified in-state production costs. From blockbuster titles to B horror films, this opportunity has led Louisiana to set the stage for many a cinema moment and St. Landry Parish is no different. This incentive is not the only reason directors have decided to film here. Before there was a tax credit enabling more and more shows to find their way to our borders, there was the natural beauty of Louisiana nearly prehistoric in its appearance, as well as the sometimes unfortunate Hollywood perceptions of our residents.

Nevada Smith, set in the 1890s American West and released in 1966, features a half white and Native American protagonist, Max Sand, set on revenge. Max tracks down one of his parents’ killers to Louisiana, where he tricks the perpetrator into escaping a prison camp only to exact his revenge later in a swamp. The jail and swamp scene were filmed in Krotz Springs.

One of the more famous scenes filmed in Krotz Springs is the final moments of Easy Rider, the landmark film illustrating the social tensions of the 1960s and ushering in the New Hollywood era of filmmaking. At the end of the film when Wyatt, played by Peter Fonda, and Billy, played by Dennis Hopper, are shot, they are traveling along the distinctive levee following Highway 105. Krotz Springs residents, Johnny David and D.C. Billodeau, are featured in the scene. For those die-hard fans out there, you can visit the exact location here. If you want to learn more about the Johnny and D.C.’s involvement, check out this Daily World article about the filming.

Casey’s Shadow, starring Walter Matthau of The Odd Couple and Grumpy Old Men, was released in 1978. This drama centered around a family’s love of horses features lots of outdoor shots in Opelousas’ countryside.

Passion Fish, a movie straight out of the 90s, has a scene in the now closed Slim’s Y-Ki-Ki dance hall. With John Delafose singing and a young Geno on drums, this scene highlights the upbeat fun of zydeco culture. The movie follows a recently paralyzed soap-opera actress who moves back home to butt heads with her equally strong-willed companion Chantelle, played by Alfre Woodard, who we see in the Slim’s Y-Ki-Ki scene. Slim’s had been open for nearly 70 years, and the snapshot of the intense energy of the zydeco dancehall scene is immortalized in this Oscar-nominated movie.

Just on the edge of the 90s and 00s is the movie Out of Sight released in 1998. This comedic crime comedy features larger than life actors George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez acting alongside each other. Clooney’s character, Jack Foley, is a career bank robber and after breaking out of a Miami prison ropes U.S. Marshall Karen Sisco, played by Lopez, into diamond heist hijinks. Scenes from this movie were filmed in Krotz Springs.

From the era of movie tax credits in Louisiana comes the influx of the B horror genre taking advantage of our primordial swamps and eerie prisons. The 2009 movie, Zombie Farm, and the 2014 TV mini-series, Requiems, are two such examples that filmed in Opelousas and Krotz Springs, respectively.

Some movies align more naturally with St. Landry’s culture including the HBO series Tremé that features the Pine Leaf Boys and prominent scenes of the Courir de Mardi Gras. Annie Talarico, played by violinist Lucia Micarelli, strays away from the New Orleans French Quarter, where she plays the violin for tips with her brother to experience a different kind of Mardi Gras near Eunice. The series is a drama that follows the effects of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans residents.

Many Acadiana residents remember the excitement that built up over the filming of Secretariat, lining up to be extras in the Evangeline Downs Racetrack in Carencro that now lies unused behind the new FedEx Ground complex. Certain scenes from that heartwarming Disney film were also shot in Opelousas.

In 2015, filming for the movie Free State of Jones with Mathew McConaughey took place at Chicot State Park in Ville Platte. During this time, there was also a scene shot in Washington’s historic Historic St. John’s Episcopal Church. In the scene, Newton stages a retaliatory ambush after the hanging of 3 young boys. The interior of the church, where Newton strangles a Confederate soldier to death, shows the stark, whitewashed walls with original pews from 1874.

In 2011 and 2018, Anthony Bourdain also found his way to the culinary wonders of our slice of Louisiana. His show, No Reservations season 7 finale heavily featured Cajun Country. The travel writer found himself at a boucherie at Lakeview Park & Beach in Eunice. Right before his death, he filmed Parts Unknown season 11, episode 7, ‘Cajun Mardi Gras’, where he experienced Courir de Mardi Gras and ate with St. Landry Parish Tourism’s own executive director, Herman Fuselier.

Apart from the locations filmed in here, there are also a number of St. Landry Parish natives who have made their appearances on television. Danneel Ackles, who was born in Lafayette but raised in Eunice, claims the city as her own. She has a recurring role in One Tree Hill and Supernatural. Teri Wyble has graced the big and small screens with speaking roles in Abaham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012), The Walking Dead (2014), and Terminator: Genisys (2015). You can see a list of her appearances on Wikipedia. Another St. Landry native with an impressive resumé is Shellita Frank Boxie. This Plaisance High graduate is a stunt performer and double who has appeared in box office hits like Captain America: Civil War, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 1 and 2, and Baby Driver. Her TV career extends to well-known series like The Walking Dead and NCIS: New Orleans. For her full list of appearances, check out her IMDb page.

Here are some St. Landry Parish big screen honorable mentions:

• Glenn Robin, Opelousas – Dear Theodosia (2009), The American Trap (2008), and K-Ville (2007).
• Voorheis J. Ardoin – Mike Hammer (1958), 77 Sunset Strip (1958), and M Squad (1957)
• Reather Hardeman – The Blood of Jesus (1941)
• Layne Herpin, Opelousas – Looking for Alaska (2019), Hot Date (2017), and Tell Me Your Secrets (2019)
• Lauren Mackenzie Heiken, Opelousas – former gymnast turned stunt performer and actress who works out of Los Angeles
• Travis Fontenot, Opelousas – The American Standards (2008), Barracuda (2013), and False Hope (2007)

Photos from IMDb.com.

Mary Hawkins is the communications manager for the St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission. Contact her at hawkins@cajuntravel.com.

Although this is Chef Jason Huguet of the Steamboat Restaurant’s seafood stuffed eggplant recipe, the seafood here can easily be replaced by a protein of your choice. Don’t hesitate to experiment and make the recipe yours.

Palmetto Mix:

1 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
3 ounces smoked tasso, minced
1/2 cup Italian seasoning
1/2 quart heavy whipping cream

Seafood Stuffed Eggplants:

Parmesan for garnish as needed

In a medium pan, heat up 1 cup of olive oil and sauté diced onion, bell pepper, and smoked tasso with Italian seasoning.

In your Magnalite pot, melt 2 sticks of real butter and sauté diced onion, bell pepper, and 1 teaspoon minced garlic. While that cooks, take your eggplants and cut them in half. Remove the inside and dice them. Put the empty eggplants onto a cooking sheet. Add diced eggplants to the Magnalite and cook them down. Once cooked, add 1 lb. fresh Louisiana crawfish tails, ½ lb. 70/90 count shrimp, and ½ lb. crabmeat. Season to taste. Add about ½ cup of breadcrumbs and mix. Take mixture and put into hollowed eggplants. Top with breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese. Place boats in oven at 325 degrees.

While eggplants are in oven, drain palmetto mix of excess olive oil. And on low heat in a medium pan, bring heavy whipping cream to a boil. Then add a teaspoon of palmetto mix stirring the sauce together. Take eggplants out of oven and pour sauce over the boats. Add Parmesan as needed.

If you don’t feel like cooking, head over to the Steamboat Warehouse Restaurant in Washington to experience how the pros do it. Watch Bayou Courtableau laze on by as you chow down on an excellent meal.

Mary Hawkins is the communications manager for the St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission. Contact her at hawkins@cajuntravel.com.

St. Landry Parish is often called the Prairie Home Cooking Region and for good reason. We have farmers markets, butchers, and seafood markets spanning the parish, supplying local restaurants with homegrown cooking ingredients as well as fresh proteins. But what may come as a surprise to the local food traveler is the amount of food products that are produced right here in the heart of Louisiana.

One of the most famous, internationally-recognized brands of these is Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning. Tony, the “Ole master” himself, forged his signature style in the Atchafalaya Swamp near Opelousas at his hunting and fishing camp on Bayou Big Alabama. It was here were he perfected the tastes that would make him an international sensation. Though the legendary chef has been departed for over two decades, his influence is still as strong as ever. The Tony Chachere’s distribution center, located in Opelousas, will be offering tours in the near future. Subscribe to our mailing list to stay up to date on when their tours and gift shop will become available. In the meantime, the familiar green can of seasoning can be found in nearly any supermarket.

What began as Bellard’s Poultry in 1964 Opelousas has expanded into a family of food-based entrepreneurs that spans several restaurants and food products with a global reach. Targil’s Butcher Supplies and Seasonings CEO Ted Bellard opened the seasoning distributor over 25 years ago. Spices by the thousands of pounds arrive at the Opelousas-based warehouse. Here, they are mixed and distributed as Slap Ya Mama, J.D.’s Barbecue Seasoning and Dry Rub, and plenty of other seasoning blends on any local grocer’s shelves. At Targil, you can even bottle your own blend of seasoning. In addition to their seasonings, you can tour the center or even take cooking classes.

Tim Bellard, brother to Ted, now runs Bellard’s Poultry, as well as Zydeco Chop Chop. If you want to add more flavor to your cooking quickly, Zydeco Chop Chop is what you need. These dehydrated ingredients give you instant Louisiana cooking with the Holy Trinity of vegetables-bell peppers, onions, and celery with green onion, parsley and garlic added in for good measure.

In 2008, Tim was inspired in the kitchen to create this product for the ease of his own home cooking. But it wouldn’t be until 2014 that he would unveil his creation to the masses. Tim and Ted’s sisters, Connie Stelly and Arlene Fisher, also own a Mama’s Fried Chicken location, each thus completing the Bellard food legacy.

The Bellards are not the only family of food entrepreneurs in St. Landry Parish. Any local can tell you about Savoie’s Sausage and Food Products, founded by Ms. Eula Savoie. Their business began as a family-owned grocery store in 1949 Opelousas. The original location of the store remains their base of operations, and the smell of roasting meats fills the air surrounding the grocery turned multimillion-dollar company. Savoie’s iconic Cajun food products are available in national and local grocery chains.

From spicy to bitter, there is also, within St. Landry Parish, a coffee roaster. Art’s Coffee Roasters in Arnaudville, brings freshly-roasted and ground coffee to the waiting hands of caffeine aficionados throughout the parish.

Heading back to Opelousas is the bottling factory of LouAna-Ventura Foods. In business for over 120 years, this factory is located in the heart of Opelousas, bringing canola oil to kitchens across America. It’s not Louisiana cooking if something isn’t fried.

St. Landry Parish, being an agricultural community, also sees many different crops rotated along winding highways and byways, including soybeans, corn, and sugarcane. One crop, however, stands as a necessary ingredient in each of Louisiana’s iconic dishes. From étouffée to gumbo, it’s not Creole or Cajun if it doesn’t have rice. Prairie Ronde Rice, owned by Beth James, has been an independent farmer of this classic culinary crop for over 35 years. They produce Louisiana long-grain, non-gmo rice with their own quality control testing facility at their mill right outside Opelousas.

No Louisiana meal would be complete without a cold one to wash it down. To finish off this Made in St. Landry Culinary tour, we head back to Arnaudville, right across from Art’s Coffee Roasters is Bayou Teche Brewery. Here resides the region’s own craft brewery, headed by Byron Knott, the head brewer, Dorsey Knott, the taproom manager, and Karlos Knott, their president. One fateful St. Patrick’s Day in 2009 led the Knott brothers to making their own craft brewery, making use of an old rail car. This local brewery is famous for its LA 31 iconography, the name of the highway that runs past it following Bayou Fuselier. With 25 beers available in their taproom, wood-fire pizza, and a certifiable sci-fi flair, these unique craft brewers bring a certain panache to their brews not found anywhere else.

St. Landry Parish is a haven for food junkies, whether you’re cooking the meal yourself or dining at one of our many delicious restaurants. Come to the heart of Prairie Home Cooking Region for a taste of why St. Landry Parish is Gumbo For Your Soul.

Mary Hawkins is the communications manager for the St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission. Contact her at hawkins@cajuntravel.com.

Étouffée has a long history in Louisiana food culture. From a home dish served in bayou-side kitchens to fine dining in New Orleans restaurants, this meal is one that has made its rounds and been interpreted and reinterpreted time and again. In the second of our Steamboat recipe series, we will share Chef Jason Huguet’s method for cooking shrimp étouffée.

Shrimp Étouffée:

2 sticks real butter
1 medium onion, diced
3 tablespoons minced garlic
6 oz tomato sauce
4 teaspoons sugar
2 lbs. 70/90 count shrimp
2 cups of water
salt & cayenne pepper to taste
½ cup slurry (a mixture of ¼ cup corn starch and ¼ cup of either water, stock, or wine)

Set your rice to cooking before you start preparing the étouffée.

Melt butter in a medium-sized saucepan. Add in diced onion and minced garlic. Simmer until onions are clear. Add in tomato sauce and stir. Then add sugar. Stir occasionally for a few minutes. Then add in shrimp and season to taste. Let the shrimp cook until they are just turning pink then add 2 cups of water, stirring as you do. Bring the mixture back to a boil. Add the corn starch slurry gradually while mixing. Let cook for a few more minutes, then serve.

The shrimp in this recipe can easily be replaced by crawfish or seafood of your choice. The original intent behind étouffée was to cook what you had available. Don’t be scared to flex your culinary muscles and experiment.

Alternatively, if the recipe looks tasty, but you don’t trust your own culinary skills just yet, head to Steamboat Warehouse Restaurant in Washington to taste Chef’s recipes from the very hand that crafted them. You can also stop by any of our restaurants to get a true taste of St. Landry Parish. It would be worth it to plan a trip and hit all the best places to eat. See Where to Stay for accommodations and Food & Drink for all your foodie needs.

Mary Hawkins is the communications manager for the St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission. Contact her at hawkins@cajuntravel.com.

A spiritual experience can be more than just a religious one. St. Landry Parish has a way of tantalizing a person’s intangible mass of self, peppering their soul with new sensation.

For some people, music moves the soul. A singer’s words edge them sweetly into nirvana or a musician’s skill lulling them into a place no one else can know. And for others, food has that same effect, harkening one’s thoughts to sweeter times with people they love and fond memories. This is not to detract from the spirituality of religion. The weight of the history and traditions of the buildings and locations with each stone dedicated and lovingly assembled to the singular purpose of worship cannot be denied. These quiet places reveal themselves as havens of spiritual peace that can be found nowhere else. Sometimes a spiritual connection makes itself known in a glimpse of the past, an item, a picture, a museum detailing what is now lost to time.

The spirit can be moved by many things-be it nature, music, art, food, religion, or history. Though there is much that can move a soul, all of them can be found in St. Landry Parish.

Students and teachers stopped in their tracks at Louisiana State University Eunice. The succulent aroma was overpowering as chef Jason Huguet of Steamboat Warehouse Restaurant in Washington worked his kitchen magic during an on-campus video shoot.

Chef Huguet has a bachelor’s degree in culinary arts from Nicholls State University, graduated from the John Folse Culinary Institute, and interned under St. Landry Parish native Chef Paul Prudhomme at K-Paul’s LA Kitchen in New Orleans. With his years of experience and awards earned through hard work and flair, we are honored to share some of Chef Huguet’s best dishes.

Stuart Amidon of Page50 Studios shot the video on location at LSUE. The college’s continuing education building provides cooking demos and so much more for those looking to expand their horizons. Their classroom also happened to be the perfect set for filming.

There are three recipes for you to enjoy, lovingly crafted by Chef Huguet. Here is the first, Steamboat Crab Cakes:

Crab Cakes:

1/2 lb. real butter, cubed
1 medium onion, diced
3 ribs of celery
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 lbs. cleaned lump crabmeat
Salt & red pepper to taste
1/2 cup mayonnaise
breadcrumbs as needed – about 1/2 cup

Remoulade Sauce:

1 qt. mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup green onions (finely chopped)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
6 oz. Cajun Power
3 oz. yellow mustard
9 oz. chili sauce
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
seafood boil seasoning to taste

Crab Cakes:

Melt butter, cubed in a large, Magnalite pot. (These pots are a staple in any Creole or Cajun kitchen. If you don’t have one already, you can purchase them at J.B. Sandoz in Opelousas, the second oldest business of the city still in operation.) Combine onion, celery, and minced garlic with butter and simmer until onions are clear. Add lump crabmeat. Stir and add salt and red pepper to taste. Add mayonnaise and mix. Add breadcrumbs. Stir, then add the mixture to a tray, flattening it a bit. Chill for 15 minutes. While your crab mixture is chilling, prepare the remoulade sauce.

Remoulade Sauce:

In a large bowl, add mayonnaise, celery, onions, green onions, minced garlic, Cajun Power, yellow mustard, chili sauce, lemon juice, worcestershire sauce, and seafood boil seasoning to taste. Whisk together until mixture is fully combined. Then set remoulade sauce to the side.

Once your crab mixture is chilled, grab a handful and form into a patty. On your cast iron skillet, sear on both sides till golden brown. Serve with remoulade sauce and garnish with chopped green onions as desired.

You can use leftover remoulade sauce for your next crawfish boil or shrimp fry. It tastes great on chicken, too.

Recipe yields twenty-four 2oz. cakes that are perfect for an appetizer or twelve 4oz. cakes for a meal.

More recipes are to come. Check our social media pages for updates.

Mary Hawkins is the communications manager for the St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission. Contact her at hawkins@cajuntravel.com.