Charley's Stories

some true, some made up, some just plain lies...

Creoles are city people, Cajun country folk.

Visitors to Louisiana, especially to New Orleans ask, "what is the difference between Cajun and Creole?" Let's take a look at the difference in the people, their food and their language.

Creoles were the first European settlers in New Orleans and the Mississippi river plantations. The considered themselves of aristocratic decent. Their heritage was of France, Spanish or Portuguese origins. Creoles were considered to be very wealthy. Some were given high political appointments by the crown. Creole holdings involved shipping, banking and plantation ownership. Their businesses faltered after the Civil War without slave labor.

Acadians (Cajuns) originating from the West coast of France (Brittany & Normandy) first settled Nova Scotia in 1604. Most were of peasant descent with little or no education, who worked with their hands. After being loaded on ships by the British, who expelled they from Nova Scotia, they began arriving in Louisiana about 1765. Cajuns mostly settled the bayous and open prairies where they could continue their trades of trapping, fishing and farming.

Creole food is New Orleans cuisine. Originating from Spanish and French recipes, this preparation of food evolved to its present day popularity under the skilled guidance of black African chefs, whose forefathers were the house servants of the wealthy Creole families. Present day Creole food is influenced by the immigrating Italians (like Emeril, do eat at his restaurants, food and service are excellent).

Basically Creole food is cooked separate from the sauce which is then ladled over and around the dish. Louis Armstrong signed his autograph "Red Beans and Ricely Yours," his favorite New Orleans Cajun food is country cooking. Originally, the ingredients came from the land or the water surrounding Cajuns homes. Cajuns were heavily influenced by the use of Native American spices which is evident in the flavor of their cooking. (such as file' powder, ground leaves from the Sassafras tree.) Cajuns were also heavily influenced by the use of local species. It is said that a Cajun zoo would have the species name on their cage followed by a recipe. Cajun usually prepare their sauce first and then add the meat ( especially seafood) last. Usually it is served over rice.

The Creole's spoken French came from the dialect of the Parisians. This is a form of language similar to the form adopted by the French after the revolution and is now considered standard French. Cajun French is a Creole language. Here, the word "Creole" means original. This dialect of French comes from the northwest coast of France, and because it was an unwritten language until 1984, it has stayed basically the same in the new world for over 300 years. The Cajun dialect of French can still be found in the state of Maine, Nova Scotia and also in the northwest coast of France. The Cajun French language, still used daily, can be heard in the Acadians Parishes of Louisiana. (In Louisiana, counties are called Parishes).

Charley loved this article because this is the way it was when he was a kid.

It appeared in the Herald News, by Jere Longman, New York Times.   Ville Platte, Louisiana

At 6:30 Saturday morning, Jason Cary, 10, walked into an oak and palmetto forest with his father,  Within 10 minutes, a fox squirrel began to bark and skitter from branch to branch.

"Dad, look, it's right there," Jason said, raising his .20-gauge shotgun and shooting an orange-hued fox squirrel with a tail a foot long.

Squirrel season opened at dawn Saturday, and within minutes the retort of shotguns boomed throught this part of Evangiline Parish.  Elsewhere squirrels might be viewed as rats with good public relations. Here squirrel season's opening celebrates and preserves a distinct local custom at a time when many of the estimated half-million Cajuns have been assimilated into the broader culture.

Villa Platte High School shut down at noon on Friday, Sacred Heart High school did not open at all.  Friday night high school football--a consuming passion in this Cajun prairie town of 9.000--was pushed back to Thursday night.

Friday, instead, was a day for preparing, for loading pickup trucks with gun, pots, stoves, generators and all-terrain vehicles, and for heading into the woods.

While fathers and sons hunt this weekend, wives and daughters shop...  But some women cannot resist the woods...

Excitement rushes through your body when you see a squirrel and you say, "I've got to shoot it"...

Squirrel hunting is a lesser known tradition than the piquant Cajun food and fiddle and accordian music.  But in the Ville Platte area it remains a vital rural ritual, (just like it used to be in all of Cajun Country)....

Two Old-timers, Thibodeaux and Boudreaux, met in their park every day to feed the pigeons, watch the squirrels and discuss world problems. One day Boudreaux didn't show up. Thibodeaux didn't think much about it and figured maybe he had a cold or something. But after Boudreaux hadn't shown up for a week or so, Thibodeaux really got worried. However, since the only time they ever got together was at their park Thibodeaux didn't know where Boudreaux lived, so he was unable to find out what had happened to him. A month had passed, and Thibodeaux figured he had seen the last of Boudreaux. One day, Thibodeaux approached the park and lo and behold there sat Boudreaux! Thibodeaux was very excited and happy to see Boudreaux and told him so.

Then Thibodeaux said, "For crying out loud, what in the world happened to you?" Boudreaux replied, "I have been in jail." "Jail?" cried Thibodeaux, "What in the world for?" "Well," Boudreaux said, "you know Judy, that cute little waitress at the coffee shop where we sometimes go?" "Yeah," said Thibodeaux, "I remember her. What about her?" "Well, one day she filed rape charges against me and, at 89 years old, I was so proud that when I got into court, I pleaded guilty. And, the Judge gave me 30 days for perjury."

Each Friday night after work, Bubba would fire up his outdoor grill and cook a venison steak. But, all of Bubba's neighbors were Catholic... And since it was Lent, they were forbidden from eating meat on Friday. The delicious aroma from the grilled venison steaks was causing such a problem for the Catholic faithful that they finally talked to their priest.

The Priest came to visit Bubba, and suggested that he become a Catholic. After several classes and much study, Bubba attended Mass... and as the Priest sprinkled holy water over him, he said, "You were born a Baptist, raised a Baptist, but now you are a Catholic." Bubba's neighbors were greatly relieved, until Friday night arrived, and the wonderful aroma of grilled venison filled the neighborhood.

The Priest was called immediately by the neighbors, and, as he rushed into Bubba's yard, clutching a rosary and prepared to scold him, he stopped and watched in amzement. There stood Bubba, clutching a small bottle of holy water which he carefully sprinkled over the grilling meat and chanted: "You wuz born a deer, you wuz raided a deer, but now you a catfish".

I think my Aunt Dora was the reason for the beginning of blonde jokes. She was a local beauty and won several local beauty contests. She was so dumb she took a ruler to bed to see how long she slept. She studied two days for a blood test. She tried to put M&M's in alphabetical order. She thinks Taco Bell is a Mexican phone company. She thought a quarterback was a refund. At the bottom of her application she wrote Sagittarius. When her boss died the police asked her what he said before he died; she said he kept saying dial 911. The police asked her why she didn't. She said she was waiting for the rest of the number.

For more Cajun stories, buy my book "Cooking with Crazy Charley". This edition has more recipes; a chapter on sausages their history and many recipes for making your own; updates on resourses for ordering Cajun food items i.e. crawfish, mardi gras cakes and what to visit in Louisiana and best of all it has about 70 more Cajun stories with their nieve humor. Love you guys, Charley