The Weekly Whisk - 6/2/22

Musings from a foodie…

It takes a bit of work to get there but, it’s definitely worth the effort. If you travel to Louisiana, I highly recommend that while a visit to New Orleans is a wonderful experience, getting out into Cajun country is even more wonderful!! We had the opportunity to visit Lafayette recently and – as usual – were on the hunt for a wonderful culinary experience. Our friends suggested a local culinary gem – the Jefferson Café [* * * * *] It exceeded my lunch time expectations by a long, long measure.

For starters, I had house-made Lemonade that was not only refreshing but wonderfully tasty with the right mixture of lemony bite and the sweetness of underlying sugar. But, the coup-de-grace for the starters was the dinner rolls. I have not had soft, pillowy and yeasty rolls like that since the last dinner that Grandma Fickenscher prepared for me way back when. Those rolls were outstanding and brought back so many culinary memories of me cooking with my grandma! I then proceeded to a cup of Seafood Gumbo that was again more than delicious with a wonderful combination of baby shrimp and crab meat. But, that was followed by the “house specialty” of Crabmeat Au Gratin. Being a cheesy kind of guy, you can imagine how wonderful I felt as I floated away into culinary heaven. I did not quite figure out which kind of cheese they used but it was a wonderful “mixture” I’m sure of flavorful white cheeses. And, to top it off – there was enough crabmeat to make a true crabmeat au gratin.

I think I asked permission from my compatriots if I could “dip” into their sauces. The remoulade was the best I’ve every had and, I neglected to ask for the recipe (that’s in the works. I sent the owner a letter of request 😊).

 But, we weren’t finished. We decided that desert was an absolute essential. So, the White Chocolate Bread Pudding was ordered. It was served with a warmed chocolate sauce and just enough raspberries to add a bit of fruit along with chocolate shavings. The other order was the Salted Caramel Vanilla Bean Lava Cake. What can I say? I was still in culinary heaven. If you want good Cajun cookin’ I highly recommend that 30 minute or so ride out to Jefferson Café followed by a walk in the garden that will delight you with a wonderful array of flowerful plant life that far exceeds my experience in Maine. You’ll enjoy the story of the setting as well and how it came to be. It’s quite a story… The only – let me repeat only – downsides were two items: First, the noise level was a bit high in the café for my aging ears and I found myself stretching my neck to hear our table conversation. And, second, our waiter forgot to clear the table of our culinary wear between servings. But, all of that was minor compared to the positives on the culinary side.