Cajuns on a mission

Donnie Bulliard rolls his eyes and whistles through his teeth. "What would you rather eat, a hot dog or a big bowl of crawfish etouffee?" he asks incredulously.

Don't underestimate Cajuns and their love of good food, Bulliard says, pointing to the Roman Catholic tradition of abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent. "We outsmarted the pope," he says, reciting a litany of mouthwatering dishes that abide by the rules: crab au gratin, seafood gumbo, oysters Rockefeller. "That's no penance," he says with a wink.

Nevertheless, the 40 days of Lent is a time for best behavior before Easter. That sets the stage for Mardi Gras, or "Fat Tuesday," the last blowout of food, drink and revelry before self-discipline takes charge on Ash Wednesday.

Mardi Gras is part of the Cajun soul, so Bulliard, as Cajun as they come, decided if he couldn't be in Louisiana for the party, why not bring the party to Charleston?

Bulliard (pronounced Bee-yard) is the catalyst for Charleston's first Mardi Gras Ball, taking place Saturday at Memminger Auditorium. While the official date of Mardi Gras is Feb. 16, it's a technicality the ball's organizers can live with as they try to establish a Mardi Gras tradition in the Holy City.

Food, naturally, started the wheels in motion. Bulliard, a native of St. Martinville, La., leads cooking classes at the Cajun Kitchen west of the Ashley. His family has been in the food business since the early 1900s, when his great-grandfather started making a pepper sauce.

He also enlisted the help, among others, of fellow Louisianan Steve Meaux, a co-owner of Cherie's Specialty Meats & Fine Coffee in Hanahan. The food shop carries Cajun meats, frozen foods and grocery items.

Both say the tradition of Mardi Gras goes deeper than the famous parade and celebrations of New Orleans.

Meaux of Abbeville, La., credits the Cajuns with creating Mardi Gras in this country (although it's a subject of wide debate). He says it was born in the countryside with horseback riders who would dress in homemade costumes and go from farm to farm, asking for a chicken or a duck.

"The farmers would say, 'If you can catch it, you can have it,' " says Meaux, and that in itself became part of the spectacle.

That evening, everybody goes to the center of town, where a huge pot of gumbo is made with the collected fowl. The band strikes up the music for the "fais-do-do," which means "go to sleep" for the babies so the adults can dance and have a good time.

His favorite place for the party is in the tiny town of Mamou, which has an old-time Cajun Mardi Gras on its Main Street from morning to midnight.

Bulliard's hometown of St. Martinville, considered the birthplace of Cajun culture, celebrates "La Grande Boucherie des Cajuns." The annual event is the butchering of a hog for the community and daylong festivities before Mardi Gras.

"They cook everything on it, everything but the oink," says Bulliard, making boudin, andouille sausage, tasso, cracklin's and more.

Cajun cuisine is marked by one-pot dishes, created with any leftover food or "making do with what you've got," says Bulliard. "It was born out of necessity. They would feed a lot of people with very little money."

A roux made with oil and flour is the base for many of the Cajun stews, while peppers became widely used because, "it's the perfect climate to grow them," says Bulliard.

People also have ready access to the Gulf of Mexico and bodies of freshwater nearby, thus giving rise to numerous fish and seafood dishes.

Bulliard was determined to bring Mardi Gras to Charleston and introduce people here to its traditions: pageantry, fashion, food and love of "bon temps." He hopes it will grow into its own celebration here and eventually include a parade.

"So many people don't know anything about it. ... You got to see this. It's fun!"

Teresa Taylor is the food editor. Reach her at food@postandcourier.com.

Mardi Gras Red Beans and Rice

Serves 12

"Red beans and rice go together like a wave and a smile," Donnie Bulliard says. "This is probably the most popular Mardi Gras dish in Acadiana (home of the Cajuns). You can treat your friends without breaking the bank.

"Don't be in a hurry to cook this dish. This is an all-day affair. You should start this recipe a day in advance so there's time to soak the beans."

Ingredients

1 pound dried red beans

10 cups cold water

3 1/2 cups chicken stock

4 to 6 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 large onion, diced

2 bay leaves

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 pounds good smoked sausage, cut into 1- to 2-inch pieces

2 pounds chopped ham or use a leftover ham bone

3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Salt, pepper and Bulliard's Hot Sauce

2 cups steamed rice

Directions

Wash, sort and soak beans overnight. Drain beans and place in a Dutch oven with the 10 cups cold water. Add garlic, celery, onion, bay leaves and oil and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours, adding water as needed and stirring occasionally. Add chicken stock. Add sausage, ham and parsley and continue cooking for about an hour. Season with salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste during the entire process. Remove bay leaves before serving over white rice.

St. Martinville Beignets

Makes about 2 dozen

Bulliard's cure for the hangover the day after the Mardi Gras Ball:

"Ouch. Everything hurts from the toe up, which means my sense of touch is still working. So is my sense of smell. ... Mama is in the kitchen frying beignets. If that doesn't get you out of bed, you'd better call the doctor. Thank you, Mama!"

Bulliard says these are best served with a good cup of coffee.

Ingredients

1 envelope active dry yeast

3/4 cup water at 110 degrees

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 beaten egg

1/2 cup evaporated milk

3 1/2 to 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/8 cup shortening

Vegetable oil for frying

Powdered sugar in a shaker or sifter

Directions

Combine the yeast, water and sugar in the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. (You can also make this in a food processor, or the old-fashioned way, by hand). Let this sit until frothy, about 5 minutes, then add the salt, egg and evaporated milk. Mix on low speed, then add half of the flour until it starts to come together, then add the shortening. When the shortening is incorporated, start adding the remaining flour, a little at a time until most of it is incorporated. Turn the dough onto a floured surface to finish by hand.

Knead the dough, adding just enough flour as necessary to make a nonsticky, smooth dough. Place the dough into a large oiled bowl, loosely cover and let rise.

After the dough has doubled in bulk, punch it down and turn it onto a floured surface and roll out into a rectangle that is about 1/2-inch thick. With a very sharp knife working at a diagonal to the rectangle, cut into 2-inch-wide strips. Now cut into diamond shapes by making diagonal cuts in the opposite direction.

Place the beignets on a floured baking sheet to let rise about 40 minutes in a warm place (a barely warm oven works well).

When the beignets have risen, heat 2 to 3 inches of vegetable oil in a large frying pan to 350-360 degrees. Place two or three beignets into the hot oil at a time, careful not to smash or deflate them. When they are golden brown, flip them over until golden on the other side. (They go quickly, so start checking them right after they go into the oil.). Remove to paper towel-lined plates to drain. Serve hot, dusted with plenty of powdered sugar.

Catfish Court Bouillon

Serves 12-15

One of Steve Meaux's favorite dishes is a thick fish stew, Catfish Court Bouillon. Court bouillon (coo-bee-yon) is a flavored broth for poaching foods.

Ingredients

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup flour

3 large onions, chopped

1 cup chopped celery

3 cloves chopped garlic

1 (16-ounce) can tomatoes, undrained

2 small (6-ounce) cans tomato paste

3 bay leaves

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 1/2 quarts water

4 pounds catfish fillets or spottail bass, cut into 2- to 3-inch pieces

Salt

Cajun seasoning

Tabasco sauce

2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

2 tablespoons chopped green onions, white and green parts

Cooked rice for serving

Directions

In a Dutch oven, make a brown roux of oil and flour: Heat the oil over medium heat.

Add flour, stirring constantly into a smooth paste. Continue to stir and cook until oil foams and roux begins to lightly brown. Do not leave unattended.

Lower heat and continue cooking and stirring until roux turns a deep nutty brown. Be very careful not to burn or the flavor will turn the dish bitter.

To the roux, add onions, celery and garlic. Let cook until vegetables are soft. Add tomatoes and tomato paste. Cook slowly, stirring for 5 minutes. Add bay leaves and Worcestershire sauce. Add water and simmer for 1 hour. Add pieces of fish. Cook for about 15 minutes more, but don't overcook. Season to taste with salt, Cajun seasoning and Tabasco sauce. Add parsley and chopped green onion 5 minutes before serving. Remove bay leaves before serving over rice in soup bowls.

Cajun Glossary

Some foods and terminology that define eating the Louisiana way:

Andouille (ahn-doo-wee): Cajun-made spicy, smoked pork sausage that often flavors gumbos and jambalayas.

Beignet (ben-yay): Made famous in New Orleans, a square or rectangular French yeast pastry, deep fried and dusted with powdered sugar.

Boudin (boo-dan): A seasoned ground pork and rice sausage.

Cajun vs. Creole cuisine: It's often said that Cajun food is country and Creole is city. The two have much common ground, and they have differences. Cajun cuisine originated with the French Acadian settlers and is hearty, robust, often big-pot cooking. Creole cuisine evolved from the cosmopolitan blending of several cultures -- Spanish, American, African, German and Italian people. Some say it's heavier on butter, cream and tomatoes, while Cajun relies more on spices and meat.

Chicory: The roasted, ground roots of an herb plant that gives unique flavor to New Orleans coffee.

Court Bouillon (coo bee-yon): A spicy Louisiana stew made with fish, tomatoes, onions and vegetables, typically thickened with a roux.

Crawfish, crawdads, crayfish: Freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters.

Dirty rice: A Cajun specialty of cooked rice and seasonings with bits of meat, such as turkey giblets or sausage.

Etouffee (ay-too-fay): French for "smothered," a thick, roux-based stew traditionally made with crawfish and vegetables over white rice.

File (fee-lay): Ground sassafras leaves used to thicken and flavor gumbo.

Gumbo (gom-bo): A deep, rich Cajun stew made with a roux, seafood or meat, okra and other vegetables and file powder.

Holy Trinity: Chopped celery, bell peppers and onions, the foundation for much of Louisiana's cooking.

Jambalaya (juhm-buh-lie-uh): Spicy Creole dish similar to a paella that combines rice and ham, sausage, chicken or shellfish with tomatoes, peppers, onions and celery.

King Cake: Traditional Mardi Gras cake, really an oval coffee cake-type pastry decorated with purple, green and gold icing and/or sugar. A small "surprise" is baked within, which could be a plastic baby doll, a trinket or a pecan. The person who finds the doll is crowned "king" and may have to provide the next cake.

Muffuletta: A popular New Orleans French Quarter sandwich of ham, salami and Italian cheese stacked with olive salad on a round loaf of crusty Italian bread.

Po'boy: A hefty sub-type sandwich made with a French bread loaf and layered with fillings: roast beef, fried shrimp, oysters, ham, meatballs in tomato sauce, cheese, etc.

Red Beans and rice: A traditional dish of red kidney beans, meat (ham, bacon or sausage) and seasonings over white rice.

Roux (roo): A slow-cooked mixture of flour and oil. Adds flavor and body to gumbo and other Cajun dishes.

Tasso (tah-so): Firm, smoky, highly seasoned cured pork meat.

Turducken: Unique "Cajun Bird" is a turkey stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a chicken.