Acadiana

Stuffed with 125 Creole and Cajun inspired dishes, Acadiana Table gets to the roots of everthing you need for Louisiana cooking and regional cuisine.

"Acadiana" summons up visions of a legendary and exotic world of moss-draped cypress, cocoa-colored bayous, subtropical wildlife, and spicy indigenous cuisine. The ancestral home of Cajuns and Creoles, this twenty-two-parish area of south Louisiana encompasses a broad range of people, places, and events. In their historical and pictorial tour of the region, author Carl A. Brasseaux and photographer Philip Gould explore in depth this fascinating and complex world. As passionate documentarians of all things Cajun and Creole, Brasseaux and Gould delve into the topography, culture, and economy of Acadiana. In two hundred color photographs of architecture, landscapes, wildlife, and artifacts, Gould portrays the rich history still visible in the area, while Brasseaux's engagingly written narrative covers the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century story of settlement and development in the region. Brasseaux brings the story up to date, recounting devastating hurricanes and coastal degradation. From living-history attractions such as Vermilionville, the Acadian Village, and Longfellow-Evangeline State Park to music venues, festivals, and crawfish boils, Acadiana depicts a resilient and vibrant way of life and presents a vivid portrait of a culture that continues to captivate, charm, and endure. For all those who want to explore these people and this place, Brasseaux and Gould have provided an insightful written and visual history.

Louisiana presents an overview of the culture in the New World and Louisiana, including related literature, such as Longfellow's Evangeline. For the visitor, the state is divided into geographic regions such as New Orleans, the plantations, and Lafayette. For each area, tours, historic sites, and restaurants are described. The section on New Orleans celebrates the French Quarter and the local food and music. Outside of New Orleans are majestic plantations and beautiful bayous filled with cypress trees and hanging Spanish moss. Side trips from New Orleans allow visitors to sample some of the various musical tastes of the Bayou State. Zydeco music may be found in Lafayette, while Cajun music may be heard throughout the southern part of the state. Special features include information on consulates, tourist offices, banks and currency exchanges, and maps which, among other things, show distances between cities. With Louisiana , anyone can pass a good time and learn how to let the good times roll, or, as the Cajuns say rouler.