Gammy wanted her coffin made before she died.

The crawfish processing industry got its start on the peaceful banks of Catahoula Lake back in 1949 when Abby Latiolais established the very first commercial cleaning plant near his home just across the Catahoula bridge.

St. Martin Parish covers a lot of ground, stretching from the same latitude as Baton Rouge at its northernmost point all the way down to practically Morgan City at its southernmost point, across prairies and rolling hills, it’s true there are only a few, across bayous, lagoons and bald cypress swamps . . .

An early variety of sugar cane, Co. 290, was brought from India to Louisiana in the early 20th century. With its striking deep purple stalks, thick cores and rich, flavorful juice, it quickly became a favorite, not just among farmers, but also among families, perfect for making a dark and deeply flavored molasses or splitting open with a pocketknife and chewing fresh.

Marcelle Bienvenu never intended to pursue a career in food, but after over fifty years as a cookbook author, food historian, food writer and restaurant owner, she’s a testament to the fact that sometimes life is bigger than our intentions.

André Courville’s passion for music has taken him from Cecilia, Louisiana to the most celebrated stages in the world—Carnegie Hall in New York City, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, Guangzhou Opera House in China, the Sante Fe Opera—and this May, the renowned bass-baritone will be channeling that wealth of experience into an ambitious music festival right here in St. Martin Parish.

I was invited to spend some time today with the gifted class at Teche Elementary. Patrice Greig Royer let me know that her students have been very interested in science and nature lately, and I came up with a lesson plan from there.

The St. Martin Parish Courthouse, which was placed on the National Register on November 19, 1981, is significant as one of the few examples of a complete temple form of Greek Revival building in Louisiana.

A good crab stew requires few flavors beyond what the crabs and some basic ingredients provide.

A blue moon occurs every two or three years. Snowfall in southern Louisiana, then, is the equivalent of about four or five blue moons.

I didn’t go kayaking expecting to find them. I went kayaking expecting to find something I wasn’t expecting. That is one of the swamp’s many charms. You never know what you will see.

An azalea in Catahoula had become an obstacle to mowing, so my mom and I decided to dig it up one morning and transplant it somewhere on the island.

The second concert in the Live from Duchamp Opera House concert series to spotlight two iconic instruments of Cajun music—the fiddle and the accordion.

Crocodile Bayou began as a love letter to the old drawbridge that provided entry into Butte La Rose from 1954 to 2022, but along the way it turned into something much more.

To eat lunch at Le Café on a Friday during Lent was to feel the heartbeat of a community. The small eatery in Breaux Bridge—home to the best fried catfish and shrimp poboys around—has always punched above its weight, delivering food that exceeded the expectations of anyone who had initially judged it by its square footage alone.

Over 900 barbecued chicken hungry persons gathered in the Clayton Boudreaux Memorial Park to eat chicken dinners and watch the first annual pirogue races held in Catahoula Lake this past Sunday.

Sue Theriot will tell you in her delightful Cajun French accent that she is married to a very versatile farmer and teacher. She has watched husband Jackie Theriot raise sugarcane, supervise the building of fish hatcheries and irrigation ditches, drill wells, and repair foreign-made machinery, all with equal ease.

The Indian summer of flowers of which you have ofttimes dreamed is just any day along Catahoula Lake. Boughs are always leafy there, and blossoms are ever fragrant.

Duchamp Opera House in St. Martinville, built in 1830, is the oldest opera house in the country, and beginning this fall, live music will once again return to this beloved historic space.

The t’fer is a percussion instrument that adds rhythmic and tonal accents to Cajun music. You can think of it as the Cajun triangle. T’fer means “little iron” and if you pronounce it like “tea fair,” that will get you close enough. Brandy Guidry Aubé, a member of the team at St. Martin Parish Tourism, is one of only a handful of people keeping this traditional art alive. I visited her at her workshop in Breaux Bridge, where she walked me through the process of making one.