Sugah! Sugah!

The invitation letter has gone out for the second annual NOLA's Backyard October 11 to 13 2016,  The theme is Sugah! Sugah!

We would like to invite you to participate in the second annual NOLA’s Backyard, a Flavor Foray (FlavorForays.com) into the food ways and folk ways of Louisiana’s Bayou country October 11-13, 2016. There’s no sitting in auditoriums or ballrooms. Instead, you will hear the stories and meet the characters, the farmers, the fishermen, the producers and the cooks who make the Bayou country one of the most colorful regions of the United States. We’ll learn about the culinary contributions of the seven nations that created the modern day gumbo that makes Louisiana cuisine so exciting.

Sugah! Sugah! will be our theme. We’ll hit the cane fields, visit a sugar house and follow the process from cane to candy. We’ll be surrounded by the sights, sounds, and smells of the cane harvest as leaves are burned after cane is cut and smoke billows from the sugar mills. Is that a hint of molasses in the air? We’ll dine like the sugar barons on the grounds of Chef John Folse’s White Oak Plantation in Baton Rouge. Think Gone With the Wind—a white, Greek Revival mansion on sweeping manicured grounds graced with massive oaks.

Chef Folse, a raconteur par excellence and an expert on Louisiana history, will lead the group on a road trip through the Bayous. And don’t worry about getting hungry!  There will be plenty of boudin, biscuits, and Bourbon to keep starvation at bay.

We will overnight Tuesday and Wednesday at Houmas House, the crown jewel of antebellum plantations in Darrow, Louisiana and enjoy a sumptuous seafood feast in the gardens. Thursday there will be more food discoveries and intriguing insights and then it’s on to New Orleans where you’ll be on your own to let the good times roll!

Due to limited space, the invitation only leadership event for food and beverage professionals, will be limited to the first 15 R.S.V.P.s. to this email. We’ve got your back for hotel rooms in Bayou country, local transportation, and meals. Individuals are responsible for their own air fare.

In NOLA’s Backyard

Presented by

Chef John Folse, Ambassador of Louisiana Cuisine

Michaela York, Communications Director, Chef John Folse Co.

Barbara Mathias, principal Flavor Forays and former publisher Food Arts magazine

Beverly Stephen, principal Flavor Forays and former executive editor Food Arts magazine