From New Orleans to Shreveport, Lafayette to Baton Rouge, Louisiana residents know one thing for sure: we have some good Louisiana eats! And we expect our classics – from the red beans in the pot to the hot sauce we douse over it liberally – to be exactly the same as we remember from our grandmother's table growing up. This week, we take a look at three Louisiana companies that each have satisfied local appetites for the last 100 years.
Read MoreAsk any New Orleanian what they eat on Mondays, and you'll likely get the same reply: "red beans and rice." For 100 years now, that humble bean has been practically synonymous with Camellia Brand. Lucius Hayward founded Camellia in the Crescent City in 1923, naming the company for his wife's favorite flower. Over the last century, generations of New Orleanians have showered much love and devotion on that dried kidney bean, but as you'll learn on this week's show, it has been far from a one-sided love affair.
Read MoreOn this Louisiana Eats Quick Bite, we learn about L.H. Hayward’s 2019 acquisition of Dagostino Pasta, a Louisiana company with Sicilian roots. Since 1926, Dagostino Pasta has handcrafted its pasta using old world methods that include air-drying over wooden rods. The semolina used is made entirely from American durum wheat.
Read MoreIf you're a Louisiana native with a distinctly Italian last name, you've got lots of company here. Since the late nineteenth century, more families of Sicilian descent have called Louisiana home than anywhere else in the world except Sicily. This is a topic that has fascinated Loyola history professor, Justin Nystrom – enough to compel him to record their history and influence here in his 2018 book, Creole Italian: Sicilian Immigrants and the Shaping of New Orleans Food Culture.
Read MoreSince 2015, Louisiana Eats has called the Southern Food and Beverage Museum home. Now in its eleventh year, SoFAB showcases culinary highlights of 15 Southern states and Washington D.C. It's more than just a museum, though. It’s also an active part of New Orleans' food and beverage world, with a state-of-the-art kitchen where cooking classes are regularly held and budding entrepreneurs try their hand at launching new food businesses.
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