Huey, Louie Andouille

These are not the duckling triplets of Disney fame, rather they are the triumvirate of Southern Louisiana culture (at least from this Yankee's initial perspective). I'm referring to Huey Long, Louie Armstrong and that yummy Andouille sausage that tastes so nice in beans and rice. Politics, music and crazy good food. That about sums up my first impressions of Southern Louisiana (as I dive deeper into the culture we'll have to come back and take a look at religion, football (if there is a difference down here!) and the "laissez les bon temps roulet" lifestyle).


But first let's talk about Huey P. Long, La. governor and US Senator (concurrently mind you!) He was the Kingfish of "All The King's Men" fame. He practically rallied a Depression Era US into socialism with his motto: "Every Man A King, but No One Wears a Crown (except of course the one who makes everyone a king has to have the authority to do so, so he gets to wear a crown, but no one else... unless their family or close friends or...)" He waxed eloquently (read "Evangeline" speech excerpt below*), drank heavily and had his finger in every part of Louisiana government and culture, going so far as to fire LSU football coaches and dis-empower judges who didn't see things his way (this last ordeal was what motivated a judge's son to assassinate him at the capital in Baton Rouge). Huey P. Long hid an amazing intellect behind his backwoods buffoon facade (he passed the bar exam after one year of law school). You'll meet quit a few people here who prefer to first project this same simple bumpkin persona, but be fore-warned: Behind this mask may be hiding a biting wit to rival Voltaire and a political astuteness to cause Machiavelli to stand up and applaud! Because Louisiana is so fragmented culturally it seems that every group and subgroup and tribe has it's own personalities vying for and grasping at power. Cult of personality is strong down here and Huey Long was a master high priest of his own religion. Pragmatically, people seem to feel that at least the guy brought us roads, better schools and bridges (much needed in this swampy land). In fact, in New Orleans there is a bridge named after him and in Baton Rouge the largest capital building in the nation was built as a reflection of this man who was seemingly larger than life.


Huey P. Long Bridge, New Orleans, LA

Next we have Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong who took the culturally diverse and almost chaotic "gumbo" of the New Orleans sound and brought it up the river and into the ears of every A-merry-CAN. We call this sound jazz. Jazz first started simmering here. It's supposed birthplace, Congo Square, is a sort of Jazz mecca in New Orleans, (along with the home of Jelly Roll Morton) and comes complete with a Louie Armstrong statue to pay homage. New Orleans' Jazzfest practically rivals Mardi Gras as a must see festival here. Louie seems to be a sort of icon of jazz. He practically invented scat, he left the trumpet in a different dimension after he touched it and he has resonated with millions as that immediately recognizable voice rasps out, "What a Wonderful World!"** The International Airport in New Orleans is named after him and when you get off the plane you'll be immediately soothed with the sounds of jazz coming over the sound system (along with alcohol to geaux if that's your pleasure!). You can't help but be impressed with the sounds of the New Orleans area.


Louis Armstrong Statue, Louis Armstrong Park, New Orleans, LA

Then of course there is the food here! Andouille sausage is but just one of many different treats you can experience in this area. Etoufees, muffalettas, beans and rice, coffee and chicory, the list just keeps going on and on. People don't seem to eat in order to live down here, they live in order to eat! There are so many different cultures sweating together in this heat that you will find the food to be a sort of mix of things you didn't ever think of putting together. Like their jazz music, the cuisine borrows from the best of the French, Cajuns, Creoles, African Americans, Italians, Germans, Irish and now there is a new wave of Middle Eastern, Oriental and Latino populations that are just begging to start tearing up every willing taste bud! There are five star restaurants seemingly everywhere and you can get just about any food you want made ways you never dreamed of preparing.

This is my first experience of Southern Louisiana culture. It is actually a hodge podge of cultures all meshing together in a way that seems to somehow work, if you don't believe me just look the socialist politician that stormed the imaginations of conservative politics or listen to the jazz musicians taking turns improvising or just sit back in the Big Easy and enjoy a dish of a little bit of this and little bit of that! Somehow it all comes together to make something better. It's the American dream in action! We can talk about the problems later, but for now I'm celebrating Louisiana culture! There seems to be no end of things to talk about down here so I look forward to sharing more outsider perspective soon!


Andouille Jambalaya Bon Appetit!

* Huey P. Long speech excerpt: "And it is here under this oak where Evangeline waited for her lover, Gabriel, who never came. This oak is an immortal spot, made so by Longfellow's poem, but Evangeline is not the only one who has waited here in disappointment. Where are the schools that you have waited for your children to have, that have never come? Where are the roads and the highways that you send your money to build, that are no nearer now than ever before? Where are the institutions to care for the sick and disabled? Evangeline wept bitter tears in her disappointment, but it lasted through only one lifetime. Your tears in this country, around this oak, have lasted for generations. Give me the chance to dry the eyes of those who still weep here!"

** Check out some "Satchmo" sound... http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/search/?query=louis%20armstrong

*** Andouille recipe http://www.gumbopages.com/food/andouille.html