Each year I get together with The Tartan Mafia and we go in search of great boudin. This year, James' younger son, Branson, joined our merry band as we went in search of the ultimate boudin.  It's really just an excuse to hang out and do nothing, but we do pack away a lot of boudin and cracklin's!

 

Here's where we went this year.

It's actually called 'The Tartan Mafia Boudin Run.' My friends Tod Ardoin, James Bitner and I are known as 'The Tartan Mafia.' They call us that partly because we are such close friends and we are all three very involved in putting together events like St. Patrick's Day parties and such.

Our first stop this year was Rita's Quickstop in Iota.

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Just a hole-in-the-wall mom and pop store, but those are my favorite. I really love all the very small, family run businesses like that. I hope they're around forever.

I've learned a bit about boudin in my 15 plus years in Louisiana. One thing I've learned is that no two places make it the same. For example: there's 'wet' boudin and 'dry' boudin. I prefer the dry ( like my martinis, but that's another story) boudin , but Tod is a fan of the 'wet.' It's purely a matter of taste.

I found our first stop a bit too wet. The flavor and spices were just great, though. The very nice lady behind the counter let us take a look at the old fashioned smoke house out back. Just a simple room with hooks in the ceiling, but it sure does the job!

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While the boudin was a bit wet for my taste, they have an incredible jerky! Once you try the jerky from Rita's you'll never like that pre-packaged stuff again!

Our next stop was Eunice Superette.

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It's one of my favorite stops because they have everything!

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The boudin from Superette was my favorite as well. Drier than the others. Just the right amount of liver flavor and the heat was perfect. My big disappointment was that they had sold out of cracklins and I was forced to wait for one of my favorite treats! I didn't have to wait long, though.

Our next stop had great cracklins!

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T-Boys satisfied my cracklin craving big time! The boudin from T-Boy's was excellent, but I only had a bite or two because I was scarfing down those great cracklins .  I wonder if I have any left-over cracklins? I think I may have a cracklin habit.

Our final stop was Mels:

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I was still filling up on cracklins when we stopped at Mel's. I didn't try the boudin because James took a bite and declared it 'mushy.' That's not a bad thing if you're a fan of the 'wet' boudin.' Again, it's a matter of taste. I have to add that, while James declared it 'mushy', he ate three pieces.

That was actually our next to last stop. What do you suppose we did after all that boudin and cracklins? We had lunch, of course.

Ronny's Cajun Cafe in Eunice

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I have to admit that I was lost most of the time and I'm sure Tod got tired of my asking, 'where are we now', but I had a great time and we met some wonderful people along the way.

Do you have a favorite boudin? Let us know about it and we'll add it to our next run! the more out-of-the-way the better!

Next time, I'll give everyone report cards to fill out.

Hey, where can I get great cracklins? I'm feeling a need for cracklins again.

 

 

 

 

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