<>
BOUDIN is a regional ethnic food & a favorite for many of us here. This post will limit to the most familiar, Cajun-style BOUDIN BLANC. This unique treat is made from rice, chopped or shredded lean pork, rice, onion, & slow-cooked with fresh pork liver & seasonings; then fed into sausage casings. Cajun Boudin is of much higher quality than that found in France.
Way back when I was young; finding good boudin was a hit-or-miss proposition, as It was all home-made by individual home cook artisans. Mostly limited to the late Fall season.
We all had our favorite sources; each with proprietary recipes. Anyone wanting variety had to know multiple vendors; quality varied widely.
Availability was always unreliable.
Then came Robert Cormier (“Cor-me-AY’’).
Robert had the radical notion that IF he could offer traditional high quality boudin EVERY day, year around, folks might buy it. He bought a tiny convenience store way out in the country North of Scott, LA., named it the “Best Stop”, & painted it bright red all-over. Using ONLY the best Packing house pork roasts, local rice, onions from area fields; Robert began tweaking his recipes. He soon had a steady stream of customers.
Modern technologies had to wait. Growth was slow, but steady. During the early years, other charcuterie specialty items were perfected. While these were going-on; more & more Cajuns & other foodie-aficianados were discovering Robert’s food jewels.
Business was on a 35+ year boom, grew right through ‘’COVID’’.
Area festivals grew-up, inspired by Robert’s creations.
As an aside, boudin is one of the few Cajun culinary creations which is best eaten soon after it is finished, rather than having it await for flavors to ‘’marry’’. In that respect, boudin is more like our real French bread, une baguette de pain Francais.
All of this gave rise to numerous wanna-be competitors. The IH10 Scott Exif grew multiple imitators’ fancy buildings, trying to intercept & short-stop folks heading to the Best Stop.
With hundreds of erstwhile competitors offering thousands of similar concoctions; some are pretty good. Be warned that there are gigantic differences between preparing an item for a contest versus preparing items which can travel in your pickup’s ice chest out to Abilene, live a few weeks in your home freezer, then still taste great.
Since this is a Texas site, and the Best Stop is almost 100 miles East of the State line, deep in the trans-Sabine, & an hour past the casinos; let me mention ‘’Texas Boudin”, that made by the many Louisiana descendants living in SE Texas: The ONLY Texas boudin I know of, other than imports, worth eating, is that from Robert Martinez’ Market in West Orange/Pinedale. Mr. Martinez does make credible boudin, which I’ve eaten for 50 years. But it doesn’t ‘’keep & travel’’ nearly as well as that from Best Stop.
The enormous demand has lead to many satellite. BEST STOP outlets scattered through Texas & other Gulf Coast States. The stores bearing the Best Stop logo are serviced from Scott 3 times a week. Best Stop products are also showing up in larger grocery markets like Krogers, Albertsons, Rouse Markets, etc.
One warning: BOUDIN is spelled ‘’B O U D I N’’; there is no ”A’’ in the word, and there is no’ ’DAN’’ sound in its pronunciation. So, if you see ‘’dan’ or ‘’dain’’, run away from it.
Your Wife says “Too much pepper?”. Try the most popular Best Stop “mild” boudin.
It has been my great pleasure to have been a friend & customer of Robert this entire time. Indeed, during our Deep South Texas years, I had the honor of being the ONLY person outside of Louisina that Robert would ship to. Today, Best Stop ships worldwide; and, to Texas, daily.
leVieux
Me & Robert:
BOUDIN is a regional ethnic food & a favorite for many of us here. This post will limit to the most familiar, Cajun-style BOUDIN BLANC. This unique treat is made from rice, chopped or shredded lean pork, rice, onion, & slow-cooked with fresh pork liver & seasonings; then fed into sausage casings. Cajun Boudin is of much higher quality than that found in France.
Way back when I was young; finding good boudin was a hit-or-miss proposition, as It was all home-made by individual home cook artisans. Mostly limited to the late Fall season.
We all had our favorite sources; each with proprietary recipes. Anyone wanting variety had to know multiple vendors; quality varied widely.
Availability was always unreliable.
Then came Robert Cormier (“Cor-me-AY’’).
Robert had the radical notion that IF he could offer traditional high quality boudin EVERY day, year around, folks might buy it. He bought a tiny convenience store way out in the country North of Scott, LA., named it the “Best Stop”, & painted it bright red all-over. Using ONLY the best Packing house pork roasts, local rice, onions from area fields; Robert began tweaking his recipes. He soon had a steady stream of customers.
Modern technologies had to wait. Growth was slow, but steady. During the early years, other charcuterie specialty items were perfected. While these were going-on; more & more Cajuns & other foodie-aficianados were discovering Robert’s food jewels.
Business was on a 35+ year boom, grew right through ‘’COVID’’.
Area festivals grew-up, inspired by Robert’s creations.
As an aside, boudin is one of the few Cajun culinary creations which is best eaten soon after it is finished, rather than having it await for flavors to ‘’marry’’. In that respect, boudin is more like our real French bread, une baguette de pain Francais.
All of this gave rise to numerous wanna-be competitors. The IH10 Scott Exif grew multiple imitators’ fancy buildings, trying to intercept & short-stop folks heading to the Best Stop.
With hundreds of erstwhile competitors offering thousands of similar concoctions; some are pretty good. Be warned that there are gigantic differences between preparing an item for a contest versus preparing items which can travel in your pickup’s ice chest out to Abilene, live a few weeks in your home freezer, then still taste great.
Since this is a Texas site, and the Best Stop is almost 100 miles East of the State line, deep in the trans-Sabine, & an hour past the casinos; let me mention ‘’Texas Boudin”, that made by the many Louisiana descendants living in SE Texas: The ONLY Texas boudin I know of, other than imports, worth eating, is that from Robert Martinez’ Market in West Orange/Pinedale. Mr. Martinez does make credible boudin, which I’ve eaten for 50 years. But it doesn’t ‘’keep & travel’’ nearly as well as that from Best Stop.
The enormous demand has lead to many satellite. BEST STOP outlets scattered through Texas & other Gulf Coast States. The stores bearing the Best Stop logo are serviced from Scott 3 times a week. Best Stop products are also showing up in larger grocery markets like Krogers, Albertsons, Rouse Markets, etc.
One warning: BOUDIN is spelled ‘’B O U D I N’’; there is no ”A’’ in the word, and there is no’ ’DAN’’ sound in its pronunciation. So, if you see ‘’dan’ or ‘’dain’’, run away from it.
Your Wife says “Too much pepper?”. Try the most popular Best Stop “mild” boudin.
It has been my great pleasure to have been a friend & customer of Robert this entire time. Indeed, during our Deep South Texas years, I had the honor of being the ONLY person outside of Louisina that Robert would ship to. Today, Best Stop ships worldwide; and, to Texas, daily.
leVieux
Me & Robert:
