Recipes, Poems, and Memory in Contemporary Louisiana Francophone Literature

Abstract

AbstractLouisiana French literature, like its cuisine, is fluid, plural, and forever evolving. Language and food are two vital mediums through which Louisianans express identity, emotions, memory, and culture. Even as Louisiana’s French language faced a near erasure in the mid-twentieth century due to Americanization, cultural expression and evolution thrive at the intersection of oral literature and cuisine. Food, as a theme, lexical field, and symbol helps contemporary cooks and writers define their own identity. In the review of creative writing, Feux Follets (1991–Present), food plays a vital role in the quest for identity among its contributors. The creolization of Louisiana culture manifests itself in creative expression, be it a dish in Melissa Martin’s Mosquito Supper Club (2020), or a poem in Feux Follets. This article demonstrates how the intersection of emblematic food items and creative writing provides a space for the evolution of a literary identity that is as vibrant and creolized as Louisiana cuisine and culture in general. Despite the fluidity and plurality of identities, writers of cookbooks and poetry write Louisiana cuisine as a metaphor, image, and cultural object to amplify Franco-literary voices in the twenty-first century.Keywords: RecipespoetryLouisianacookbooksCajunmemory Notes1 “Because little north winds mean that we will surely be receiving an invitation from a neighbor for some gumbo. The delicious smell of roux browning in cast-iron pots, where soon we will find hot gumbo and chase the cold from our bodies—that delicious smell spreads to each village riding the little north winds.”2 Throughout this paper, the term Indigenous is used to describe one or a combination of Louisiana’s four federally recognized aboriginal tribes: The Chitimacha Tribe, the Coushatta Tribe, the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians and the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe and, as of 2021, its state-recognized tribes: the Adai Caddo Indians of Louisiana, the Bayou Lafourche band of BCCM (Biloxi-Chitimacha Confederation of Muskogee), Choctaw-Apache Tribe of Ebarb, Clifton Choctaw Tribe of Louisiana, Four Winds Cherokee Confederacy, Grand Caillou/Dulac Band of BCCM, Isle de Jean Charles Band of BCCM, Louisiana Band of Choctaw, Natchitoches Tribe of Louisiana, Pointe-Au-Chien Tribe, and the United Houma Nation.3 And I think that the smell must have travelled a bitBecause—all of a sudden—we were surrounded by a bunch of strangersThey asked us“What is that?”“What is ‘gumbo’?”“It’s like a soup?”This was before Popeye’s and Emeril LagasseAnd Cajun chicken and Cajun fries and allMom responded: “Euh… yes. It’s like a soup.”And she gave them some in little cupsAnd they said that it’s good, quite good.But I don’t think that they knew just how good it was.You know, I don’t remember much from my childhoodMy memory was never goodBut I remember that gumboBecause it was cold outAnd you always want gumbo when it’s cold out.4 Now you add the seafood:…the creatures form a line for the fais-do-do…the sun and breeze to help us sleep…the tears…the soulsServe with rice and it’s ready.Let us eat.5 If I kept going, what would I find?It seems that every place with a cold climate hashealth care for alland maternity leaveand cultural investmentsThey really know how to eat up there.But they don’t have good boudin.Additional informationNotes on contributorsChase CormierChase Cormier obtained a Ph.D. in Francophone Studies from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in May 2023. He is the editor of Feux Follets, a review of creative expression hosted by UL Lafayette. He works on Louisiana and Acadian French literature and foodways. He is also a writer of poetry with works published in Feux Follets, Ancrages, and The Southwestern Review. Chase is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at Williams College.