[Michelle] On this episode of Love, Eat, Travel, I'm visiting St. Landry Parish, Louisiana.

This is the home of Cajun and Creole cultures, and you will find this quite evident in the architecture of the many buildings that reflect this cultural heritage, as well as the amazing foods that are so popular in the region.

The people here take their music seriously and it is full of energy and upbeat.

And this area has some of the most beautiful scenery.

And of course, let's not forget about the people.

It's the people that make this region so friendly and welcoming.

This is St. Landry Parish.

Hi, I'm Michelle Valentine and for over 20 years I've been traveling the world admiring and exploring unique destinations that are off the beaten path.

I love people and their stories, and traveling allows me to share these experiences with you.

This is Love, Eat, Travel.

Just west of the state capital of Baton Rouge, Louisiana is beautiful and historic St. Landry Parish.

St. Landry Parish consists of two cities with Opelousas being the largest of the two.

It also consists of eight other towns and two villages.

This area is known for its music, great Louisiana cuisine, very friendly and inviting people, and lots of history, as well as a mix of Creole and Cajun cultures that go back for centuries.

However, this area is also very well known for their zydeco festivals.

Did you know that St. Landry Parish is the home of zydeco music?

What is zydeco music?

Well, this is where my journey begins and you're about to find out, as I put my musical skills to the test.

All right, so we're here in Sunset, Louisiana, which is known as the rub board capital of the world.

And we're here right now.

And you make these beautiful and unique instruments.

Hi, I'm Tee Don Landry, owner of Key of Z Rubboards here in Sunset, Louisiana.

And so, tell me, this is all about zydeco music.

So, what is that about?

Tell me.

It's about zydeco music.

I mean, in this area, that's what we do.

This is the world-famous zydeco area here.

All zydeco musicians that travel around the world, most of them are from St. Landry Parish.

[Michelle] So, tell us a little bit about zydeco music.

What makes it so unique?

The accordion and the rub board are the two main instruments.

Without either one of those, it's not zydeco music.

I've been making them on a full-time basis since 1996.

My father helped to design the first rub board with the straps on it in 1946.

So, it's been in my family for a long time.

Well, I can't wait to play one of these.

[Don] You can do it.

I know you can.

[zydeco music] I think I'm now part of the band.

Let me introduce you to my new band, the Michelle Valentine Band.

I've been playing music for about 30 years.

Hey, folks, I'm Grammy award winner Chubby Carrier.

There ain't no party like a Chubby party.

My name is Larry Jolivette.

I'm the son of swamp pop legend King Karl.

Hello, my name is Wayne Burns and I've been playing music since I was 14 years old.

Okay, so it's not really my band, but this was so much fun.

[zydeco music ends] Whoo.

Awesome.

Well, thank you so much for telling us all about zydeco music and rubboards and even playing music.

I had a blast.

So, thank you so much.

Thank you all for making me a part of it.

-I really appreciate it.

-Thanks.

[Michelle] Wow, That was so much fun.

But the food is just as important.

And how can you come to Louisiana and not try some delicious gumbo?

The bayou is all about fresh ingredients, and there is nothing like fresh caught shrimp and crawfish in an authentic gumbo.

Well, I think I came to the right place.

Chef Jason is the real deal, and I'm about to learn all about gumbo and how to eat it properly.

Hello, I'm Chef Jason Huguet, chef owner of the Steamboat Warehouse in Washington, Louisiana.

So, Jason, we're enjoying these old fashioned's.

Cheers.

So, let's talk a little bit about the history here at the Steamboat Warehouse.

So, at one point this was called the Opelousas River.

And this was the point of all the activity.

The china's coming in from England.

The cigars are coming in from Cuba.

There's all this activity, all of these things coming in.

What else was coming in?

Whiskies?

Whiskies and cigars from Cuba.

I think you mentioned that already.

Cotton, different grains, things like that.

The steamboats back in those days would come all the way from New Orleans to St. Louis, Missouri, through these little waterways.

And back in those days, this was the biggest stop on that whole route.

There used to be seven warehouses like this back in those days, and this is the only one that still remains today.

And you started working here when you were just a teenager?

I was 18 years old.

I'm now 47 years old.

That tells you how long I've been here.

But it's home.

So, I'm pretty excited.

So, after this cocktail, we are going to go in the kitchen and you are going to show me and the viewers how to make gumbo.

Classic gumbo to this area.

One of my favorite things to cook and one of my favorite things to eat.

Great.

Cheers.

To gumbo.

All right Jason, so these are all the ingredients that's going in the gumbo dish.

So, let's start.

So, this looks like chopped up onions.

We got some chopped green peppers and-- Minced garlic.

Minced garlic, and this?

This is just regular lump crab meat.

Blue crab.

Gulf blue crab.

[Michelle] Gulf.

This is the claw meat, which is the most flavorful part of the crab that we're going to put into our-- It's a seafood gumbo we're making.

So, now these have two different colors.

This one is whiter and that one has more of a pinkish color.

Okay, now we have Louisiana crawfish.

That's all we use around here.

And these are actually Gulf shrimp from Grand Isle.

And I heard that you actually caught those.

We actually caught those.

And I actually peeled them and deveined them myself, Wow.

You can't beat a fresh shrimp.

I can't wait to taste this gumbo with fresh shrimp that you caught.

This is one of the basic ingredients to a good gumbo.

You start with a stock, usually chicken bones.

You boil them and make a broth.

You add your roux to it.

That's your second step.

Then you add all your vegetables.

The longer your gumbo goes, the better it's going to be.

And you let that go for at least four to five hours over here.

I'll make a stock in the morning and I let it go all day long.

That's it.

Okay, Michelle, we finished our seafood gumbo with this beautiful shrimp, this beautiful Gulf blue point crab meat, Louisiana crawfish.

And we can dig in whenever you're ready.

This looks delicious.

So real quick, there's a local controversy with people around here who argue about, does your potato salad go on the side or does it go in your gumbo?

So, some people would actually put their whole scoop in their gumbo.

I don't choose to do that.

Whole scoop?

Okay.

Let's try it.

I don't choose to do that.

You don't do it?

No.

I'm going to show you how I do it.

Is that okay?

Okay, show me, but I want to eat this first.

Go ahead.

So, I just take a little bit like this and just kind of mix it a little spoonful at a time.

Oh.

Oh, I was thinking you were going to stir it in.

It's just kind of a side scoop.

Oh, no, no.

That wouldn't be much different.

This is so fresh.

You can't beat a good seafood gumbo.

This is a great seafood gumbo.

[Jason] Louisiana ingredients.

So, you just kind of take the spoon when you eat gumbo.

It looks like you just scoop up a little bit of rice.

Scoop up a little bit of soup.

There's so many variations.

So, you have to come here every time and order a different way.

So, you get the gumbo, then you have the cold potato salad or the warm potato salad.

Or with rice, no rice.

It's all in which you like.

You can never have too much gumbo.

No, no.

Well, Jason, this has been so much fun learning about gumbo.

And then you've got the difference between, do you put potato salad in it or do you not?

So, someone's going to have to find out for themselves.

But I liked it both ways.

I do too.

I'm going to try some more with the potato salad.

That sounds good to me.

I think I'll do that with you.

Thank you so much.

[Michelle] That was about as fresh as it gets and absolutely delicious.

So now that I've experienced a taste of the music and food here, I thought it was time to learn about some of the history that shaped this historic area.

And what better place to start than the Creole Heritage Folklife Center?

This museum celebrates the culture and heritage of the Creole and African American people in this area.

So, this cultural center promotes and celebrates also the rich cultural heritage of the Creole people as well as African Americans.

So, the center's been here since how long?

The center has been here since 1999.

And it really has grown since that.

And even though it has grown, I still consider it in its infancy stages because there's much, much more to see and much, much more to build, much, much more lives to reach and touch.

Absolutely.

You have about nine rooms here in the center and I'm just overwhelmed with everything that you have.

It's just, so much of your heart and your soul is into this wonderful center.

Tell us a little bit more about what can people see when they come and visit here.

When you come here, you're going to see everything that embodies Creole culture.

Everything that was simple, the simple way of life.

Paying homage to your ancestors.

When you come here, you will see things that you can identify with.

Everything in here has a story.

Every item you would pick up, I could tell you a story about it.

I love the little okra angels.

And I asked you, I was like, they're so beautiful.

So different.

[Rebecca] Okra comes from Africa.

[Michelle] It's wonderful.

[Rebecca] And the slaves brought the seeds in the locks of their hair.

Really?

The okra.

The Hoppin John, which is black-eyed peas, you know.

And some of the stuff they put in the locks of the hair.

And all of the things that you see, you know, I make the cough syrup.

Oh.

Then this is beet syrup for asthma.

"Beets, sugar and onions reduce phlegm due to asthma."

You know when you got the thick phlegm.

And the green tea, of course.

People now are doing green tea.

Oh, it's very popular.

Green tea, sure.

Well, it has always been because modern medicine stems from folk medicine.

"Spider web and sugar."

What do you do with this?

Well, you put it when you're bleeding.

Or if you had a spiritual healer, you could take the blood on a cloth and take it to him.

He would treat it and when it got back, you weren't bleeding anymore.

[Michelle] Learning about the history of the Creole and African American people that live for generations on these lands gives a unique perspective on the hardships that perpetuated for centuries.

The way they lived.

Remedies that were used for curing, and even what a wedding was like in the day.

We reenact the wedding the way it was when you got married and your minister or the priest comes and he'd redo it.

And then we have music and storytelling.

Well, thank you so much.

Good.

Good.

[Michelle] Continuing my journey in the pursuit of local history, I decided to visit the Sacred Heart Academy that sits on these beautiful and historic grounds and has been here for over 200 years.

Established in 1821, it is one of the oldest learning institutions and it's still in use today.

I'm also here to find out about the miracle that occurred here.

That's right, a miracle, and it happened right here on these grounds.

So, I've got a lot of history here at this school.

My grandmother taught here.

I was a student here for years and now my two children go to school here also.

So, tell us.

This museum and the academy has been here for a very, very long time.

For 200 years?

The school was founded in 1821 by an order of nuns, the Religious of the Sacred Heart.

They came over from France and started these boarding schools for girls.

It's been in continuous operation since 1821.

So, you went to school here and now your daughter goes to school here.

What is so wonderful about the academy?

It's just kind of a home.

The traditions that are here, just the feel of the school.

It has changed, but it hasn't changed.

You have this wonderful museum here.

There are so many unique rooms.

Tell us a little bit about the museum.

The museum tells about the founding of the school, the nuns who came to Louisiana to start the convent, the boarding school.

It tells about early life at the academy for the students, for the religious, and also for the enslaved people who lived here too.

So, we'll go into the shrine.

I'll tell you the story of the miracle there, and then we can walk some of the grounds.

Wonderful.

So, this was the convent infirmary at the time.

There were beds set up in here for anyone who was sick.

And Mary Wilson was one of the patients in here.

She was here for about two months.

Her health declined by the day.

Her doctors had kind of given her up.

Stopped all treatment.

But the sisters wanted to try one last novena.

They chose John Berchmans to pray for his intercession for her cure, and he appeared to her on the ninth day of that novena, and she miraculously recovered after that apparition.

So, because of this, now he has been canonized.

That's right.

So, it was an official miracle, declared an official miracle, by the Vatican, and a few years later, he was canonized.

He became St. John Berchmans.

So not only is this the shrine of St. John Berchmans, but this is also a chapel and it's still used today.

It's used today.

The students come in here, the faculty come in here.

Sometimes we have small services in here.

Confession for the students.

[Michelle] As I walk with Caroline, I couldn't stop thinking to myself of all the history that occurred right here.

I continued my journey through some of the neighboring towns and local shops, and everyone kept telling me to try the Gateau Na-Na.

Inspired by the sweet dough pie, Gateau Na-Na is a traditional French recipe from Brittany and is basically two layers of buttery dough with a praline torte inside.

I wanted to try it for myself, so I visited The Kitchen Shop.

Hi, I'm Nancy Brewer.

And I'm Jesse Poimboeuf.

We own The Kitchen Shop in Grand Coteau, Louisiana.

So, this is Gateau Na-Na, which is...?

Based on a cake from Brittany in southern France.

And it is a dough that is only found there.

And in the United States, that sweet dough is only found in South Louisiana be cause our grandmothers probably brought it with them in their apron pocket, the recipe.

He has been sitting here just waiting to eat this pie.

Okay, show us how you eat them.

You don't eat them with fork.

I don't use a fork.

-Why?

-Why.

Yum.

I have the little Gateau Na-Na, so I'm going to use my fork.

You have blueberry on your lip.

There's blueberries everywhere.

That's for later.

[Michelle] To make Gateau Na-Na, we begin by adding fresh pecans to a boiling pot of brown sugar and local honey.

Okay, so three scoops at a time.

Why don't you go ahead and give that a good stir.

Okay, so let's stir it so that-- Oh, I see what's going on here.

This takes a lot of muscle, and we don't even have a lot of muscle.

We don't even have half of it in there yet.

To give you an extra workout, see if you can flatten that.

Okay.

Nice and flat.

All right.

Oh, it's so much easier than stirring.

She says that now.

We have a lot of flour that goes in here.

How many cups of flour?

Pounds of flour.

Okay, we got dough.

We got the dough.

We got the dough.

[Michelle] And this is Nancy's one-of-a-kind custom built dough presser.

And my final hurdle.

And it's just easy as pie.

Go ahead.

Easy as pie.

Easy as pie.

Come on.

You can do this.

Go all the way down?

You need some muscle there.

Oh my gosh.

Keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going all the way.

Come on.

All right, wow.

Wow.

All right, and now.

Pull it up.

Nice.

Okay, so now it's nice and cold.

Yeah.

How long did it stay in the refrigerator?

You know, I think it could probably be ready to go within an hour.

I could just lift that up and just eat it like a candy bar.

So, what is the reason why you just put these fork marks through the top?

There's a texture to it.

It's a color to it.

If it was just flat, it just wouldn't be as inviting.

It's a very forgiving cake, though.

I don't think I've ever lost a single Gateau.

Well, thank you so much.

Go ahead.

Bite.

Eat.

No problem.

Look.

No problem.

You're a mess.

[Michelle] What an absolutely adorable couple.

And that Gateau Na-Na was out of this world.

But after that, I was ready to wash it down with something cold and refreshing.

And I heard about a brewery that uses local ingredients like honey and vegetables, so I had to go find out more about this place and of course try a few brews myself.

My name is Karlos.

I'm the president and one of the founders of Bayou Teche Brewing.

So, you brew about 50 beers here a year and it all happens here.

That's right.

This machine, the brew house, can do all 50 of the different beers.

So, when it's finished brewing one beer, it cleans and sanitizes itself, and we can do another batch with a different flavor right behind it.

This is where the grain steeps with the water.

-Okay.

-It's the first step.

This is the mash tun.

Oh, so this is the first step.

So, we actually start from here and then work our way around.

Okay.

And when we're finished, all the grain goes to local farmers or the animals, and we give it to them.

The animals love it because we made it real, real sweet by mashing it.

And what kind of animals?

Mostly pigs.

They really love it.

If he waits to feed them a few days and it starts fermenting because the grains will ferment, and the pig can get hammered.

They love that.

So, this is all-- I don't even know how to respond to that about the pigs getting hammered.

And we don't charge them, and they just bring us meat occasionally, so we come out way ahead.

Is it the meat that is on the pizza that we're going to be tasting?

No.

Unfortunately, no.

You have to go through a whole USDA thing.

Okay.

Gotcha, gotcha.

Okay, Karlos, so we learned all about how your beer is brewed here, and so now we're going to taste test some of these which you call a flight.

And so these are using products that are local to St. Landry Parish.

That's right.

So, this one is a rice-based beer using local rice.

This one is local beets from St. Landry Parish.

This is a local honey from St. Landry Parish.

And this is from local coffee from St. Landry Parish.

Right?

So, how delicious.

So, I can't wait to try this.

So, this is the rice one.

So how long does this take to ferment?

So, it's a lager, and lagers take about three months total to make.

A lot longer than an ale.

It's our lightest beer.

And so especially this time of year, people drink a lot of light beer.

It's very light with the heat, right?

Exactly.

Okay.

This is the beets.

Look at the color on this.

It's so beautiful.

And we call it beet neck.

And, you know, you think Beets would taste kind of weird in a beer, but it gives it, like, a little earthiness.

It's really nice.

Oh.

Oh, that's very good.

You barely taste.

It's not like drinking beet juice.

Right.

It's more of the color, I think.

And this one is, which I can't wait as well, is the honey.

Look at the color on this.

It just looks so delicious.

It's called miel sauvage, which is Cajun French for wild honey.

And it's made with local honey.

And then it's aged in bourbon barrels, so it tastes like bourbon and honey and beer all at the same time.

If I drank this whole glass, I might be on the floor.

It's high alcohol too.

Absolutely.

It's super delicious.

The honey comes immediately.

Immediately you can taste the honey.

And now this one, okay.

It's usually served kind of at the end of the day.

Oh.

Oh, it has even such a sweet aroma.

And this is the coffee.

Look at how dark this one is.

The color is amazing.

And it's a stout.

And it's roasted coffee that's right next door to us.

Oh, that is very, very good.

You kind of could drink this for breakfast.

So, we have some pizza here with meats that are local to St. Landry Parish.

This is our alien autopsy pizza.

Alien autopsy?

Yeah, it's all science fiction.

We're all geeks, but it's got five local meats.

That is probably the tasso.

So tasso is a kind of a spicy ham.

Andouille would be here.

Andouille is a bigger sausage and it's smoked.

We have a choriz which is a really spicy sausage.

That's probably right there.

Okay.

The brown pieces.

And we call it smoked sausage, but it's just a regular sausage, some of the crumbles.

And then the smaller brown pieces, that's boudin which is something we eat all meals.

It's like a meal in a casing.

It's a pork, onions, sausage, rice all ground up.

It's everywhere.

It's everywhere from a five-star restaurant to a gas station.

That is really, really delicious.

Thanks.

Now this is jalapenos too?

Right.

We call them candied jalapenos but it's jalapeno that we also put sugar and a lot of sugar, and it makes it kind of sweet.

The guys will just eat it like candy in the back.

I could tell they eat this like candy for sure.

Oh, wait a minute.

It's hot now.

It sneaks up on you.

Right.

That is so delicious.

Well, thank you so much.

I'm going to continue eating this delicious pizza and pick at this as well.

And this was really fun.

So, thank you so much.

How interesting learning about how your beer is brewed here and the unique flavors that you have that are all local.

All this local meat.

Thank you so much I appreciate it.

Our pleasure.

[chanting] [Michelle] So, whether it's all about the history, culture and beauty, or if you really love music and want to have a great time or maybe it's the fresh seafood in Louisiana cuisine, whatever your pleasure, one thing's for sure, it's the people that makes this place what it is and their friendly demeanor that will make you keep coming back for more.

Remember, for a happy life, Love, eat, travel.

[Michelle] For recipes, travel tips, behind the scenes and more, visit www.loveeattravel.tv.