When In Doubt, Write About Food

I don't know what to write about today. I don't feel particularly bad this morning, nor do I feel particularly good. Yesterday was interesting and I certainly want to ensure my brother, who has worked so hard to make this a great holiday, knows that I appreciate his efforts and the efforts of his wife too; I do. But nothing spectacular happened. The day passed, we drove, we ate, we drank, the day ended.

Maybe food? When there is nothing else to write about, there is always food, especially when you travel. For example I got to try boudin and cracklins yesterday. Boudin (pronounced "boo-dan") is a kind of Cajun sausage made by the locals down here in Cajun country. Lake Charles is right on the edge of this unique triangle of US culture and boudin is available everywhere. It is a moderately spicy pork and rice sausage, served either in links or as sausage balls rolled in a spice and bread mix then deep fried. We had both.

Another deep fried treat of the day was cracklins.  Cracklins are fried pieces of pork fat with a small amount of attached skin. The skin is deep fried then seasoned with a coating Cajun spices. The degree of "heat" in the spice varies from place to place in Cajun country; the cracklins we had were moderately spicy. Every culture where pork is eaten seems to have this fried pork skin snack. When we were kids my Dad used to make them and we called it crackling.

My sister-in-law made shrimp etoufee for dinner. Etoufee (pronouced "eh-tu-fay" is a kind of stew where a central ingredient, in this case shrimp, is covered in sauce and other ingredients, and cooked, once again with a medium Cajun spice. It is typically served over rice. This one was terrific, so good that I had a second helping. My sister-in-law is a very good cook; it is a testament to my brother's self-control around all this good cooking that he isn't a "food planet", a term my son uses to describe people who are very large.

It was a treat having something that was not fried. At times it seems as if everything served in the South is fried. There is a buffet chain here called Shoneys and there are times at Shoneys when every item not on the salad bar is fried. And the salad bar is very small.

So, food. I think I will write about food.