Sometimes when we are searching and visiting areas things aren’t as we hope. Our Saturday of surprises was beginning to look that way. Our Rice Palace breakfast was fantastic and we figured the entire day would be that way. Not necessarily so, until…
After the Coushatta Farmers Market and Jambalaya Cook-Off (earlier post) we headed to Eunice, LA. There is an RV Park we were interested in seeing mainly because they have dances on the weekends. The park turned out to be not for us even with the dances, which would be a huge draw for us. While in the area, we were off to locate another RV Park. This one was on the water with great sites and lots of trees. The only problem was getting there, specifically the roads. Liked the park but would not drive our RV over those roads. Two parks checked off our list.
On the way to the second park we passed a specialty meat company. John noticed it and decided we would return since lunchtime was approaching and boudin was available. Backtracking we go to Pine Prairie, LA population 1600 and home to the best boudin we have ever tasted. The outside of Guillory’s Specialty Meats was a typical small town grocery/quick stop/filling station façade and inside was the same – nothing fancy here. Appearances did not matter since we were going in for smoked boudin. We had to wait about ten minutes for them to steam it, so we took that time to wander the grocery part of the store. It again was a typical small town grocery with the basic items including many local products along with some cooking pots and utensils.
The star of the show or shop is the meat market. The Guillory men will cut meat to your specs or process your deer. There is a large selection of luncheon type meats as well as hogshead cheese along with many types of sausages. Along with our order of boudin we also purchased a pack of hogshead cheese.
There was a small park with a gazebo out front so after our purchase of three links of smoked jalapeno boudin we decided to sit in the park and try the tasty treat. Our intention was to eat one link and then head on our way. After the first link, we decided to have more. After the second link we decided to finish it off and go back and purchase more. When we left the second time we had two large frozen packages; one of the smoked boudin and one of regular pork boudin. We live in an RV and our freezer is not very large, but making room for our boudin was definitely a priority.
Guillory’s boudin is what we call clean in that you taste every ingredient in the link. The rice is whole and has texture; it is not mush. There are chunks of meat which blend well with the rice and other seasonings. As the flavors come alive in your mouth they are Zydecoing your taste buds all the way down.
That Saturday we found our day’s diamond in the rough in Pine Prairie, LA at Guillory’s Grocery & Meat Market. The problem is, you usually don’t just “pass through” Pine Prairie going anyplace. But I can assure you, we will find a way to return to Pine Prairie just for Guillory’s boudin!
We stumbled across Gillory’s by accident in 1989 (that is a story for another time) and have been returning at least twice each year ever since, even though we now live in Texas. You are correct on a couple of counts, you don’t pass thru pine prairie without plannin’ to…and their boudin is tasty. You may not yet know that tasty is equaled by their fabulous Andouille sausage! We began to panic when the meat market changed hands, but the recipes held tru’. These guys are friendly and will accommodate large orders with advance notice. Fortunately, they will freeze packages for the long haul.
Thanks for blogging your adventures!
Thanks for the comment. We will try their Andouille on our next visit. The hogshead cheese was also excellent. It is always fun to stumble upon great places. We are now in the Texas Hill Country enjoying the various food items available. It is beautiful country.