What's Cajun?

Over the past decade or so, since Cajun food became a fad, there's been a mistaken belief that Cajun food is about spice that burns the inside of your mouth, instead of just giving you that nice warm feeling as it makes its way down to your stomach.

Those in the know, my husband John Boudreaux included, have always been slightly amused - dismayed may be a better word - at this.

So there we were, on our first stop on our Jet Blue "all you can jet" journey, driving from Madisonville, LA  where his sister lives to his home town in Franklin, when he got a hankering to visit a restaurant he frequented in his many trips to LSU in Baton Rouge.

Pat's Fisherman's Wharf in Henderson is off the beaten path, but in the 40+ years since John graduated it has developed a reputation as the crawfish capitol of the world.

It's a lot larger than the last time we were there, and a lot more commercial. But the menu's the same: crawfish, crawfish, and crawfish -- with a bit of shrimp or catfish for the unadventurous.

Thomas Wolfe wrote you can't go home again, and unfortunately, Pat's is one of those places we've probably visited for the last time. Pat now caters to those who have never tasted real Cajun food. Fortunately we were on our way to the real heart of Cajun country, where we knew we would not be disappointed. Stay tuned.