BREAUX BRIDGE

• By CYNTHIA V. CAMPBELL
• Travel editor
• Published: Mar 30, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Breaux Bridge is one of Louisiana’s special small towns. Straddling Bayou Teche in St. Martin Parish, the town draws visitors from around the world, yet it’s amazingly unspoiled. Ask locals what attracts people and they’ll tell you — the music and the food. But there’s more.

During a day’s outing, we found the town certainly offers scenic beauty and an old-fashioned downtown. Most of all, we enjoyed the warmth and welcoming spirit of residents, many of whom are descended from early Acadian settlers. Some still speak Cajun French, and their English is tinged with a lilting French accent.

The town’s name reflects its Acadian heritage. In 1771, pioneer Firmin Breaux began buying land from which the present town evolved. By 1774, Breaux’s branding iron was registered, and by 1786 Breaux was one of the largest property owners in Teche country. In 1799 he built a footbridge across Bayou Teche for his family and neighbors. According to local history, it was likely made of rope and small planks stabilized by being tied to small pilings located at each end of the bridge as well as to large oak trees on both sides of the bridge. When travelers were given directions, they were told “go to Breaux’s Bridge,” which eventually became the name of the town.

In 1817, Firmin’s son Agricole built the first vehicular bridge allowing for the passage of wagons and increased commerce as well as initiating Breaux Bridge’s distinction as the only city on Bayou Teche to grow on both banks at the same time. Agricole’s widow, Scholastique Picou Breaux, drew up plans for the city and began developing her property by selling lots to other Acadian settlers.

One of Breaux Bridge’s main attractions is its cuisine, especially crawfish. Restaurants here were among the first to offer crawfish on their menus. And it was here, locals say, that crawfish etouffee was created and first sold commercially. 

“Etouffee means ‘smothered’,” said resident Paula Finley. “You start with butter and onions, and you smother the onions, then add the crawfish. When I started cooking, people added the crawfish fat. When you make a roux, it becomes more of a stew.”

Breaux Bridge became so well known for its crawfish farming and cooking that in honor of its centennial celebration in 1959, the Louisiana legislature officially designated the town “la capitale Mondiale de l’ecrevissse” — Crawfish Capital of the World. Since then, the annual crawfish festival brings thousands to the town. This year, the event takes place Friday-Sunday, May 2-4. The event will feature more than 30 Cajun, zydeco and swamp pop bands. There are crawfish races, Cajun and zydeco dance contests, a crawfish eating contest and, of course, crawfish dishes.

Cafes in the area offer crawfish cooked in every possible way. We started with a visit to Crawfish Town on La. 347, just north of the Henderson-Cecilia exit. Chef Colt Patin is a Breaux Bridge native.

“I became a chef because I just have a passion for food, ” he said. 

Patin proudly showed off the restaurant’s kitchen, which can accommodate 10 cooks at once. To start, the restaurant uses a “crawfish washing machine” to clean the crawfish. The device cleans the crustaceans with running water until it runs clear. Crawfish and shrimp are cooked in the boiler area where there are six steam kettles. After a quick dip in boiling hot water, the crawfish are bathed in kettles of mild, medium, hot or extra hot peppery seasoning. Crawfish Town also prepares 35-pound sacks of live crawfish for people to cook at home. The restaurant can process up to 90 sacks a day.

As in most towns where there is a local delicacy, Breaux Bridge residents have their favorite dining spots. Among them are Chez Jacqueline, a small restaurant specializing in French cooking; Le Café that serves a great fried shrimp sandwich; Corner Po-boy, popular for its seafood po-boys; and Mulate’s, known around the world for its Cajun cooking and live Cajun music nightly 

For lunch, I joined Dona Degatur Richard, St. Martin Parish tourism director, at Café Des Amis, where the lunch special was eggplant medallions topped with, what else but, crawfish etouffee. The restaurant has developed a reputation in south Louisiana for its zydeco breakfast on Saturday mornings. Just outside the café, a Canadian couple sat at a small table with cups of steaming coffee. 

A walk along East Bridge Street is a shopper’s dream. Highly individualized, antique and boutique shops are diverse and entertaining. We eyed jewelry at Janell’s, pottery with crawfish designs at Jeanne’s Gifts and an array of fanciful formals gowns at Monroe’s. At Breaux Bridge Antiques, Carl Voorhies, who is also a guitarist, specializes in new and vintage guitars.