Louisiana's Cajun Christmas Traditions

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Louisiana’s Cajun Christmas Traditions

Many of us know the legend of the candy cane and about Rudolph guiding Santa’s sleigh, but there are some other Christmas traditions that are not very well known; and these are the Cajun Christmas traditions of Louisiana. Cajuns, or people of French Canadian descent who have settled here, came to the state in the 1700s, according to the University of Wisconsin, and with them brought these traditions that Louisianans now hold so deep to their hearts.

* In Louisiana, Santa Claus is called Papa Noel.
* Every year bonfires are lit on the Mississippi River levees to light the way for him.
* The bonfires are believed to have been started two hundred years ago.
* According to The New York Times, there is some argument on whether they were originally lit to guide churchgoers to midnight mass or if they were really for Papa Noel.
* The bonfires are lit at 7 P.M. on Christmas Eve so that Papa Noel can find his way to all of the houses in Louisiana throughout the night.
* In some parts of Cajun country, Papa Noel takes a different persona on altogether, and is called Cajun Papa Noel.
* Cajun Papa Noel doesn’t have eight reindeer; he has eight Alligators that guide his river boat.
* Instead of Rudolph with his red glowing nose to guide Santa while he delivers presents, there is Nicolette, the alligator who has glowing green eyes to guide Papa Noel.
* There is also the Yule Log Cake that many Louisiana families eat on Christmas Eve. The Yule Log Cake or the Buche de Noel came from a French chef, according to The Cake Bible, who instead of carrying on the tradition of burning a Yule Log on Christmas Eve decided that he would come up with a pastry to carry on the tradition instead.
* While many people know about Louisiana’s Mardi Gras tradition, few know that the beginning of Mardi gras, or Twelfth night, which is twelve days after Christmas, is the end of the Christmas celebrations here, according to America’s Byways.
* On twelfth night, Louisianans have King Cake. The King Cake is a cake that has a figurine of baby Jesus baked into it. Whoever gets the baby Jesus gets to buy the King Cake next year.
* In New Orleans and with some Cajun families, the Reveillon dinners which originated in France and mean awakening, according to FrenchQuarter.com still are made.
* These dinners were originally made to eat on Christmas Eve after families came back from midnight mass, but now the Reveillon dinners are special menus that are prepared on every night during the holiday season at restaurants throughout New Orleans.

Explore Cajun country: swamps, seafood give visitors a taste of life on the bayou

LAFAYETTE, La. — Cajun country. My husband and I had been before, hitting a few towns on the way back to our home in Dallas from a road trip to New Orleans — and we loved it. Friendly and relaxed, it’s the kind of place where visitors can just meander and explore.

Last time we visited, we stayed in a boutique hotel in Lafayette, the Acadian city at the heart of Cajun country. This time, we found a bed and breakfast in Breaux Bridge, just 10 minutes or so east of Lafayette.

We found Country Charm Bed and Breakfast without much trouble (what did we do before GPS?), at the end of a gravel road. Owners Eric and Gloria Gassiot live in the main house; they weren’t home, but had left the key.

The B&B consists of three suites — one in a cabin next to their house, and the other two in a handsome red barn. Ours, on the ground floor of the barn, was decorated with a few too many antique knick-knacks for my taste, but it was sweet.

Best of all the grounds were gorgeous. Set on a serene little lake, the cottages were set back under magestic Evangeline oaks. There was a canoe and fishing rods for guests to use, and a lakeside fire pit surrounded by chairs. We loved just sitting on the covered fishing pier and watching the turtles and birds. So peaceful.
After a fine dinner at the French Press in Lafayette, we headed back to Breaux Bridge, to Mulate’s. We’d eaten there once before and, although the food left something to be desired, it was so much fun. There was live zydeco music and what looked like the whole town came out on the dance floor, from small children to oldsters.

I’m so glad we had a last chance to stop there, as the famous spot closed last month. Fortunately, Mulate’s in New Orleans is still alive and well.
The next morning, armed with Gay N. Martin’s terrific guidebook “Off the Beaten Path Louisiana,” we hit the road, with the idea of tooling around Acadiana. The area gets its name from the Acadians, French-Canadian exiles who came to southwest Louisiana in the late 18th century. Say it fast, and “Acadians” sounds like “Cajuns.”

Tuning the radio to a Cajun music station, we were surprised to find we could understand a lot of what was being said, as we both speak French.

After picking up an excellent touring map of the Bayou Teche Corridor at the Atchafalaya Welcome Center in Lafayette, we headed south, stopping in Abbeville, a well-preserved Acadian town with an almost Western feel.

We visited the cemetery, walked around the square. Everything was closed up tight. Of course: It was Sunday.

“It’s a family day; everyone’s at home,” one of the Welcome Center ladies had told me.

I’d wanted to have lunch at Cajun Claws in Abbeville. Brett Anderson, the New Orleans Times-Picayune restaurant critic, had been kind enough to recommend a couple of places to try, and he described Cajun Claws as “one of the best boil houses anywhere.” Closed Sunday. Ah, well.

Passing by cane fields and rice fields, we came upon the town of Jeanerette, where we found Yellow Bowl Restaurant. It was open, and filled with families in their Sunday best. We chowed down on seafood gumbo and crawfish etouffee.

And then it hit us: If you’re going to spend a weekend in Cajun Country, make it Friday and Saturday, not Saturday and Sunday.

On the other hand, if we hadn’t been there on a Sunday with businesses closed up tight, we would have missed a highlight of our trip. Spotting Lake Fausse Pointe State Park on the map, we headed there, and fell in love with what we found: a nature hike unlike any we’d ever experienced.

We followed a two-mile trail along lake and swamps. We hopped over snakes (poisonous? who knows?); stopped to marvel at armadillos rummaging in the leaves, seemingly oblivious to us; and even spotted an alligator’s eyes peeking up from the swamp.

The landscape, with its palmettos and cypresses dripping Spanish moss, was wonderfully moody. It was the perfect way to spend an afternoon.

Later, we wandered around sleepy, historic Breaux Bridge, with its cool-looking folk-art galleries and vintage shops, even a store specializing in 18th-century culinary antiques. We peered into Cafe des Amis, a popular breakfast spot, where a sign in the window touted zydeco breakfast — every Saturday from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. We’d definitely have to come back for that.

On the way back to the B&B, we picked up boiled peanuts and a couple of beers at a fruit stand and had ourselves quite a party on the fishing pier — just the two of us and a symphony of croaking frogs.

Finding something open in Breaux Bridge on Sunday night was a bit of a challenge, but we scored — at Crazy ‘Bout Crawfish Cajun Cafe, where we gorged ourselves on boudin, crawfish and excellent boiled Gulf shrimp.

Around us, others were digging into big platters of crab, which looked fantastic. Next time. And, yes, next time we’d time the trip to catch the height of crawfish season, in the spring.

The next morning, we’d reserved spots on a swamp tour. We piled into an open crawfish skiff with about 10 other people, and set out on St. Martin lake. This was truly incredible — quiet, still, almost eerie.

Fat-stumped, Spanish moss-covered cypresses emerging from the emerald-green-moss-covered water looked otherworldly. Giant fields of lily pads stretched into the distance.

Our guide took us into grottoes, pointing out incredible waterfowl and educating us about the ecosystem of the wetlands. But mostly, he was looking for ‘gators. And we found them — basking on logs, lurking just beneath the surface, even a mother nosed up against her nest on the shore.

That was an unforgettable two-hour tour. There’s something about ‘gators that makes a visit to Cajun country complete.

Cajun swordfish with mango salsa

INGREDIENTS:
• 1 ripe mango (see hints below)
• 1/4 cup finely diced red pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 small or 1/2 large deseeded and very finely diced jalapeno pepper
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• Approx. 3-4 Tbs olive oil
• Salt to taste
• Four 5-6 ounce swordfish fillets
• Cajun spice rub as needed (see hints below)

PROCEDURE:

1. Use a small paring knife to carefully peel the mango and then use another larger knife to carefully slice it in half lengthwise along one side of the inner pit, spin it around and carefully slice it along the other side of the pit and then dice the flesh into small cubes.
2. Add the diced mango to a medium sized bowl and add 1/4 cup each finely diced deseeded red pepper, chopped green onion, chopped cilantro and 1 small or 1/2 large deseeded and finely minced jalapeno pepper then add the juice of 1/2 lime, a little olive oil and salt to taste and mix it up.
3. Next, heat the cast iron skillet on medium high heat and preheat the oven to 400 degrees, if you think you’ll need it.
4. Drizzle a little olive oil over the fish getting both sides with the oil and then generously coat both flat sides with the Cajun spice rub.
5. Add a very tiny splash of olive oil to the hot skillet and carefully add the fish, let it cook until the first side is blackened, flip it over and, especially if they are thick swordfish fillets, place the skillet into the oven to finish up and keep the smoke down.

HINTS: The riper the mango, the easier the slicing will be but, at any rate, be super careful cutting it because it tends to be really slippery after being peeled. Try adding the spice rubbed fish to a dry skillet (instead of adding any oil to the pan) it may help the seasoning stay on the fish better. Buy prepackaged Cajun spice rub in the spice isle of larger supermarkets.

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