Archive for May, 2005
Attention Cajun Bloggers:
I don’t think there’s anything as "pure Cajun" or "half Cajuns" because Cajuns by their very nature are a mixture of ethnic groups. So, when you look at some of our most legendary Cajun musicians, they had decidedly non-Acadian surnames: Lawrence Walker (Anglo), Dennis McGee (Scotch-Irish), Nathan Abshire (German), and so on, and so on.
An Open Letter to Sonic Drive-In
A Cajun friend and I were talking about how much we dislike being known for cooking "blackened" food even though neither of us have ever made it or even eaten it. After our conversation, I was prompted to write to Sonic Drive-In which just introduced a new "Cajun" burger. The burger sports, among other things, pepperjack cheese and blackened chicken. Boo, I say.
To Whom it May Concern,I’m a displaced Cajun living in Los Angeles. I grew up in Kaplan, Louisiana, often called the “Gateway to [Acadiana].”While I love your food and even drive with my friends in Anaheim to eat it on special occasions, I wanted to share my concerns about your new “Cajun burger.”
The first time I saw this Cajun burger, I was actually visiting home and was at the Kaplan Sonic Drive-in. I wondered what was in it but ordered my usual. Today I was talking to another Cajun friend about how our culture is misrepresented in the media and he brought up your new television (or was it radio?) commercial. He said the actor in the Sonic commercial felt like she was on a roadtrip to New Orleans when she eats this Cajun burger. He also mentioned how your commercial emphasizes that your burgers are blackened.
Any Cajun who watches this commercial will turn up his or her nose. First, New Orleans is not in Cajun Country. Cajun Country, or Acadiana, is a 22 parish region across South Louisiana. Baton Rouge doesn’t even make the cut, much less New Orleans. Second, none of us eat blackened food. The blackening technique was invented by Cajun Chef Paul Prudhomme in the mid-1980s but it’s nothing we cook at home. Your website also states “Whatever Cajun tastes like, the Cajun Chicken Sandwich has it.” We Cajuns take our food seriously and your burger, while it may be delicious, is not Cajun. If Cajun were to taste anything, it would probably taste like roux and that’s not an ingredient I see listed on your website.
Sonic has made its way into our culture and I’d even say that I’m reminded of Kaplan when I drive the 45-minute trek to the Anaheim Sonic Drive-in. We Cajuns are well aware of your brand but do not appreciate the harm you do by continuing to tell the world that we burn our food and live in New Orleans. We take pride in our cooking and your burger does not represent any part of it. If you do not retract your commercials around America, you should at least consider taking it off of the air in Southwest Louisiana – some people are offended while others are laughing. Either way, it’s not good publicity.
Thank you for your time.
Chrissy LeMaire
Co-creator, www.RealCajunRecipes.com
Sonic is, and will remain, one of my favorite fast food restaurants. I really hope they consider my letter!
14 commentsCensus Repost
Mr, Mickey,You may remember me – I’m Ruby’s daughter. How have you been?I’ve got a question/proposition. I do not know if you are familiar with the Cajun/Census fiasco but if not, here’s a summary.Most of us Cajuns think that we are just Caucasian/American. We do not realize that we are an ethnic group too and thus many of us fail to report it on the US Census. As a displaced Cajun living in Los Angeles, I’m now very aware of what it means to be Cajun and I’m extremely proud of my heritage/ethnicity.The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy defines ethnicity as “Identity with or membership in a particular racial, national, or cultural group and observance of that group’s customs, beliefs, and language. “ We Cajuns certainly have our own distict customs, beliefs and language. We also have our own folklore, music and art. You’ll even notice that “Cajun” is mentioned on the US Census’ Ancestry FAQ page. So it’s officially established that we are an ethnicity but our numbers are not accurately reflected in the US Census.The census survey has a box for people to write in their ancestry. Below the box, they give examples (Jamaican, Cambodian, Italian, French Canadian, etc). This is what it looked like in the 2000 Census.Now in 1990, the Bureau decided to add Cajun as an example. As a result, nearly 400,000 people claimed Cajun ethnicity. Vermilion Parish had the highest numbers – we were about 48% Cajun. The US Census was shocked by the numbers and felt that there were too many false positives — people tend to identify with what is listed. As a result, they removed the example in the 2000 survey and we dropped down to about 40,000 – a number closer to what was reported in 1980 when there was no example. Unfortunately, most of those people shifted to the listed example of “French Canadian” or simply “French.”I think it’s extremely important for us to get out the message that Cajun is a valid ethnicity and that every Cajun report it on the 2010 US Census. I’ve talked to Ms. Judy at the Kaplan Herald and I’ve got her interested too. Do you think there is any money in the state budget for this type of PSA? I’m thinking billboards and TV ads announcing that “Cajun” ancestry/ethnicity should be reported in the 2010 Census. A website could be given for further information for those looking to help the cause or to understand the “qualifications” for being Cajun.I’m going to use the growing popularity of my website http://www.RealCajunRecipes.com (I just moved web hosts so if you can’t get to the site, try again tomorrow) to inform the visitors of Cajun descent of the cause. I’ve found that about 80% of the visitors to my Cajun “blog” at http://oldblog.realcajunrecipes.com are from South Louisiana so I think I’ve got a real opportunity to let people know more.If you are excited about this and want to continue forward, I would be willing to help with the webpage. I’m a professional database and web developer. It’s not just my trade but my passion as well. If you’d like to read more about this, please feel free to read this NYTimes article by a Pulitzer prize winning author, Rick Bragg. It’s titled “Reported to be vanishing, Cajuns give a sharp ‘Non’”Thank you for your consideration!Chrissy LeMaire
Cajun Roadkill
Pooh Yie! I been to Holly Beach!
Last week, I went to Louisiana to get as much video as possible of Cajun traditions and of my grandma and great aunt (taunt) telling stories. I came back with about 6 hours of video but I still have to encode it. Still, I wanted to share something with y’all that I took with my little digital camera.
I got to Louisiana on Friday and left Saturday morning early to go crabbing near Holly Beach. On the way, I saw what I like to call "Cajun Roadkill". Click on the picture below to see:
If you can’t make it out, it was an alligator. And I’da took it home to put in a sauce piquante if I would have been in a truck!
