Accordions and fiddles belt out a lively Zydeco rhythm and the smell of boiled crawfish fills the air.
It's the annual Mudbug Madness Festival in Shreveport, LA and you don't want to miss it!
On May 23-26, this northern Louisiana city takes on a south LA flavor and celebrates the crawfish or "mudbug" with Cajun food and music that define its southern traditions.
Beginning in the eighties as a two-day street festival in downtown Shreveport, Mudbug Madness has become one of Louisiana’s largest and most popular festivals, featuring well-known Cajun, Zydeco, Blues and Jazz artists, fantastic authentic Cajun cuisine, crazy and quirky contests, and fun for all ages. Now a Shreveport institution, Mudbug Madness is nationally recognized as one of the Southeast Tourism Society’s Top 20 Events.
Hundreds of people will line up to buy their box o’ bugs, brimming with boiled crawfish, red potatoes and corn on the cob. The crawfish are cooked with a zesty blend of spices, a little bit hot and a little bit sweet. If you've never eaten a crawfish, friendly “natives” are quick to tell you how: twist, peel and bite! For those who don't desire a mess of mudbugs, the festival features some of the best jambalaya, crawfish étoufee, poboys, alligator, dirty rice and other dishes unique to the region.
After you’ve sampled all the food, the infectious beat of the music will likely draw you over to one of the
three stages of live entertainment to clap, dance and sing along. This year’s event will feature performances by Louisiana favorites such as Grammy-winner Wayne Toups & ZyDeCajun and Dwayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellraisers.
While the crawfish is the star of this festival, the weekend is really about celebrating Louisiana’s rich cultural heritage and the people of Shreveport are proud to bring a little bit of south Louisiana up north.
>> Mudbug Madness Festival website
>> Plan your travel to Shreveport, LA
They serve a Louisiana Alligator and Seafood Gumbo in an oversized cup for $8.00. I’m starting to have a problem with my search for the best Louisiana Gumbo. It’s a good problem though. I’m finding more and more great Louisiana Gumbos than average Louisiana Gumbos.
The seasoning level in their gumbo was right on the money and the alligator sausage gave off another seasoning level. Both lead to a great after burn. Now, the gumbo has okra in it, but it did not create a slime like other gumbos have.
Croux says “I’ll give it a 4 Spoon Rating”
My first stop was at Bayou Teche Brewing. Bayou Teche Brewing brews “cultural” beers in small batches and has just opened a new tasting room where you can sample these one-of-a-kind beers. Karlos Knodt is the brew master and he has a great selection with many more to come. During my visit, I sampled Saison d'ecrevisses (perfect with crawfish), Mardi Gras, Biere Noire and the Boucanee, a smoked wheat beer.
The Louisiana Seafood Gumbo is $1.00 more.
Fore the best PGA golf tournament this spring, drive on over to the Zurich Golf Classic at the TPC Louisiana course in Avondale, which is also one of the 10 golf courses on the Audubon Golf Trail. 156 of the best golfers in the world will be trying to chip their way to the lead. Here is the big challenge for these pro golfers: with all of the great food in New Orleans and on the course, it’s going to be difficult for them to not partake in Charbroiled Oysters from Drago’s, or the great food from Arnaud’s, Galatoires, The Bourbon House and 
Louisiana, but I hope they are not serving eagle gumbo, and I plan to trap myself in the food tent until I am asked to bogey on home.
I have to talk about the Court of Two Sisters before I tell you about the two Louisiana Gumbos I ate at the Tavern. What is New Orleans known for? Correct. Food and Jazz Music. New Orleans is also known for beautiful courtyards. Well, you have just described the Court of Two Sisters. Every time I walk through their courtyard, hear the Jazz music, see the foliage and see all the people, (mostly out-of-towners) enjoying a bountiful array of Louisiana foods, it puts a smile on my face.
(see below), coffee, tea, juices and all you can eat. Now, I have eaten dinner at the Court of Two Sisters which is first class and the surroundings in the restaurant are elegant, but casual. Even though I am searching for the Best Gumbo in Louisiana, I can tell you The Court of Two Sisters has one of the best Turtle Soups in Louisiana. This is a must.
If you are on the Southshore of Lake Pontchartrain and want to get to the Northshore, why not take the longest bridge in the USA. The Causeway is just shy of 24 miles long, and from there you can get to Mandeville, Covington and Madisonville very easily.
The Gumbo has a medium to dark roux and has a great Gumbo aroma. I’d like to refer to it as Eau de Gumbo. Dab a little behind your ear and the Cajuns will come a runnin’. Their Louisiana Seafood Gumbo uses Gulf and Louisiana seafood, mostly small shrimp and a fantastic Louisiana Andouille which gives it a great spice level. There was plenty of shrimp and Andouille. It was also on the thicker side and there was a hint of okra, but it wasn’t slimy. The salt level was on the higher side but not unpleasant. The after burn was perfect and lasted for a while. The rice was served warm, but didn’t add or detract from the Gumbo. This is worthy of a bowl the next time I go to Gallagher’s Grill.
learn things at the place known formally as the 
Here’s the recipe. Really, here it is: 
Croux says “I’ll give it a 5 Spoon Rating”
and over 12,000 people came to experience the event. This year, the event has moved to City Park and it will be even bigger and better than last year. I will be a judge at this year’s BBQ cook-off. Even though I’ve been searching for the Best Gumbo in Louisiana, I have judged other BBQ cook-offs. So, why not join The Louisiana Travelin’ Man for a great cause and great BBQ at Hogs for the Cause.
Unfortunately the gumbo was not. Here’s the recipe: they serve a Chicken and Andouille gumbo at $4.50 for a cup and $6.95 for a bowl. The gumbo had a medium roux, with small pieces of chicken and andouille. The bowl was not filled all the way, but after tasting it, I didn’t complain. It was served warm and the rice was bland and cool. It was a fairly thick gumbo with a good spice to it and did get spicier as I got closer to the bottom of the cup. It just didn’t have that pizzazz that one would expect from a great local restaurant. I have been back several times and enjoyed my meals, I just didn’t order the Gumbo. Some of the things to order are their Gourmet Po' boys such as the Fried Green Tomatoes and Shrimp Remoulade, or The Legend, which is Cochon de Lait and BBQ Shrimp. 
Croux says “I’ll give it a 2 Spoon Rating”
On this visit, I had the Chicken and Sausage Gumbo. As soon as it was placed in front of me I could tell it was going to be very good. It had that great Louisiana Gumbo aroma. The gumbo had a medium roux, the texture had some body to it and it had a good amount of stuff. The smoked sausage had a Louisiana taste and there was enough chicken to satisfy my taste buds. It was served hot, had a great spiciness which kept getting spicier as I reached the bottom of the cup. The after burn left me wanting more. The rice was average as most rice is.
Croux says “I’ll give it a 3 Spoon Rating”
That's not surprising since the biggest and most well-known celebrations happen there and international media coverage of Carnival events seem to focus on the wild revelry in NOLA. If you are not from Louisiana, you may not even realize that all Louisianians love to celebrate Carnival season and there are some major Mardi Gras parades and parties happening all across the state. The various regions of LA like to put their own unique spin on the festivities. Most are good, clean, family-friendly fun and feature activities for children and even pets. Carnival season generally starts in late January/early February and the celebrations culminate on the day of Fat Tuesday, which falls on Feb. 12 this year. Look for plenty of parades and parties this weekend through Tuesday.
Now back to Charlie’s Restaurant. This is a very family friendly restaurant that serves good local food and plenty of it. Their menu has 300 items to choose from. As you guessed, I ordered their Louisiana Seafood Gumbo. They have three sizes: Cup at $4.95, Bowl at $7.95 and a Quart at $13.95. The Louisiana Seafood Gumbo had plenty of stuff and had a great gumbo aroma. The stuff was mostly smoked sausage and shrimp with a small crab finger and some chunks of okra. There was a taste I couldn’t figure out. I asked the owner and he said “it’s a secret.” It had a sweet acidic taste so if I had to guess, I would say it was a Balsamic Vinegar, Worcestershire Sauce combination. I asked where his sausage came from and he said it was Hillshire. I didn’t question why, but there are so many other local options to use. The Louisiana Seafood Gumbo had a medium roux with a good blend of seasoning and good body. It left a very good after burn as I got to the bottom of the cup. The rice was warm, but didn’t add anything to the gumbo.
When a waiter serves you Louisiana Gumbo, the first thing that hits you is the aroma. It’s usually the roux that hits your nose first. When this Louisiana Gumbo was placed in front of me, there was no aroma. Even when I went in for a closer smell, not much there. More about the Gumbo specifics later. Speckled T’s has two Louisiana Gumbos on their menu. They have a Louisiana Seafood Gumbo and a Chicken and Sausage Gumbo. Both are priced the same: $4.95 for a cup and $6.50 for a bowl. I had the Chicken and Sausage Gumbo. It had a dark roux that was very thick. As you can see in the first photo, there was plenty of stuff, what you will see in the second photo is most of it was sausage. We are talking about sausage pieces
that were bigger than my spoon, and the sausage did not taste like a good Louisiana smoked sausage. It tasted more like a Kielbasa that you can buy anywhere in the USA. Now for the worst part of the gumbo: it was so salty that I couldn’t eat it. When I tasted the rice, it was ice cold. This is the first time I was served rice that was taken directly out of the walk-in cooler and served.
and one of the locations of the hit show Swamp People. Right down the road from the Houma Visitors Center is one of the locals' favorite lunch spots, Boudreau & Thibodeau’s. 
The Gumbo had a medium roux with PLENTY of chicken and sausage. One of the first things I noticed was the thickness of the Gumbo. If you have been reading my Louisiana Gumbo reviews you know I’m not a fan of okra in my Gumbo, but the thickness in this Gumbo comes from them stewing the okra to the point that the slime factor is gone, but you still get the taste of okra. The chicken was tender and tasty and the Louisiana sausage had a good spice. There was a great spiciness to the Gumbo but not overpowering. It did leave a very pleasant after burn. A great Gumbo keeps getting better as you get to the bottom of the cup (or bowl) and this one was as good as they come. The rice was warm but, as usual, didn’t add anything to the taste. There was a whole bay leaf in my Gumbo which should have been removed before serving, but no big deal. Many of the Louisiana Gumbos I’ve tasted had a high salt content, but this one was right on the money.
Croux says “I’ll give it a 4 Spoon Rating”
Mardi Gras dates back over several thousand years to the pagan celebration of spring. More recently, the religious leaders of Rome decided that with excess comes sacrifice, so Carnival season became a prelude to the 40 days of penance between Ash Wednesday and Easter. Mardi Gras is the culmination of feasting, excess drinking and revelry before Lent.
offered great swamp tours, but with the success of the History channel's show "Swamp People", the tourists are coming in droves to see reality TV's newest cool destination, to experience a bit of bayou life and to mingle with these down-to-earth, hard-working Cajun folk. 
Located about an hour southwest of New Orleans, Houma is more than swamps, though. The town is named for the United Houma Nation of Native Americans who have lived in Louisiana's swamplands since the 1700s. Today there are over 17,000 tribal members. Experience Houma's distinct Cajun Indian culture, evident from the residents, the fantastic food and the wonderful music.
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