Cajun Pig Boucheries, Cochon De Laits and Boudin

Poche, Dixie

Southwest Louisiana is famous for time-honored gatherings that celebrate its French Acadian heritage. The culinary star of these gatherings? The pig.

Whether it's a boucherie, the Cochon de Lait in Mansura or Chef John Folse's Fete des Bouchers, where an army of chefs step back 300 years to demonstrate how to make blood boudin and smoked sausage, ever resourceful Cajuns use virtually every part of the pig in various savory delights. Author Dixie Poche' traverses Cajun country to dive into the recipes and stories behind regional specialties such as boudin, cracklings, gumbo and hogs head cheese. From the Smoked Meats Festival in Ville Platte to Thibodaux's Bourgeois Meat Market, where miles of boudin have been produced since 1891, this is a mouth-watering dive into Cajun devotion to the pig.