Christmas in Natchitoches, Creole Country, Louisiana

Driving past magnolia trees covered in Spanish moss, Lidia enters the heart of Louisiana Creole Country - South of Shreveport and North of New Orleans. In this region, the culture derives from its early inhabitants, individuals known as gens de couleur libres (free people of color), who descended from a combination of French and African roots.

Lidia makes Gumbo in Creole Country, Louisiana.

Lidia heads for the City of Natchitoches which starts preparation for Christmas in June, when strings of holiday lights are tested in anticipation of the town’s proud Festival of Lights. This town of 18,000 celebrates the season with more than 300,000 lights and 100 set pieces displayed along the banks of the Cane River, honoring the holiday and their Creole heritage.

Homegrown vegetables and fruit, wild game, fish, gumbo and étouffée, combined with spices like red cayenne pepper and filé (dried, ground sassafras leaves) provide the basics of Creole cuisine. Other traditional Creole dishes include smoked bacon, ham and sausage, boudin, andouille, and zandouille. The region also has strong Spanish influences, as reflected in their cooking of meat pies, dirty rice and tamales.

Lidia visits the historic Badin-Roque House, where she meets Dustin Fuqua and Rodney Meziere and learns how to grind sassafras leaves to make filé, a spice used in gumbo.

She takes her filé to the home of her friend Vera Severin in Natchitoches. There she is introduced to Lillie Delphin, who is well known for her Creole cooking. Lidia learns that the Creole people are multicultural, a mixture of the French, Spanish, African-American and Native Indian. Together, Lillie and Lidia make a delicious Gumbo and enjoy a meal with friends from Natchitoches.