LAFAYETTE, La. — Anybody who lives in Louisiana long enough notices the same pattern. Outsiders writing about Louisiana food usually miss something. The list runs too short, the spelling is off, somebody calls a snoball a snow cone, or the whole story stops at the French Quarter line and never looks west.
Food Network’s “States’ Plates” rundown of Louisiana’s most iconic eats, written by Erin Zimmer, gets it more right than most. The list runs 21 dishes deep, and a lot of those entries point right back at Acadiana. Boudin from Best Stop in Scott. Cracklins from Don’s Specialty Meats two miles down the road. Red beans from Creole Lunch House right here in Lafayette. The piece even calls Lafayette “the capital of Cajun country,” which is the rare moment a national outlet gets the geography right.
So how does the rest of the list hold up, and what would a Lafayette eater want to add or argue with?
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What Acadiana Eaters Need to Know About the Food Network List
The full Food Network feature stretches across 21 dishes. Some are pure New Orleans, some are pure prairie Cajun, and a handful belong to the whole state…