17 / 60
MusIC
ROUSES.COM
15
to do while you’re waiting to
eat. As soon as the roux starts
cooking, to a kid, it smells like
it’s ready, but then, your Mama
would tell you “it won’t be done
for another 3 ½ hours, so go play
this”, so we’d sit around playing
music to pass the time until the
food was ready. In that sense,
food and music were tied very
closely together.
BRAD:
Have you ever written a song about
food?
TAB:
Yeah, a lot of ‘em! Probably because
I’m on the road so much of the time, and
I miss the food you can’t get anywhere but
here. As soon as you cross the state line,
that’s it. You’re on your own, and it’s not
gonna be anything like what you can get
at home. On the road, food is really just
to sustain yourself, not really to savor and
enjoy. I wait ’til I get home for that, and that
way, when I do get home, everything we eat
around here is just wonderful.
BRAD:
Can you give me some names?
TAB:
I got a song called “We Make a Good
Gumbo,” another one called “Sac-a-lait
Fishing,” one called “Crawfishin’.” I got
songs about food for sure.
BRAD:
A lot of local guys I know that travel
for work, playing music or conducting
other business, carry a bottle of hot sauce
everywhere they go, just because so much of
the food in other places tastes bland to us.
Are you one of those people?
TAB:
Oh yeah. On the bus, we always keep
Crystal, Louisiana, and Tabasco sauces,
because they all have different flavors for
different things, but my favorite is Tabasco
peppers in vinegar. Me and my grandpaw
used to grow those peppers around his
house and put them in a bottle with vinegar
and salt — it’s the best. And, obviously, we
always have Tony Chachere’s with us.
BRAD:
Do you ever cook on the road?
TAB:
I do have a way to cook on the road in
case I get a little antsy and need a taste of
home. You can usually find frozen crawfish
and shrimp out there and make do with
whatever you can find if you learn how to
cook. You can really make Cajun food out of
just about anything. I’ve even made salmon
courtbouillon — this guy had just caught a
bunch of salmon and asked us if we had a
way to cook it that was different from the
way they made it since they usually ate it the
same way all the time. Now I have to cook
it for him every time I go back! Because
salmon has such a strong flavor, much like
a big redfish, I figured it would be good if it
was cooked down into a tomato-based stew,
and it was. I’ve even made it at home just to
show everybody it could be done!
BRAD:
Well, I promise I won’t tell anyone
else around here. What’s the best thing
you’ve ever eaten on the road, and what’s
the worst?
TAB:
I have some friends in Maine that
are lobster fisherman. I taught them how
to boil lobsters like we boil crawfish, with
Zaterain’s and all, and that’s the only way
they do it now because it’s so good. We go
out in the boat and check the traps, and it’s
really not much different from the way we
fish around here, except the accent is totally
different! And without a doubt, the worst
is when people try to cook Cajun food for
us.They know we’re Cajun people and they
always want to try out their recipes on us,
and it’s never a good thing.They sit there and
watch for your expression, and sometimes I
can’t tell if it’s gumbo or jambalaya!
BRAD:
One of your main charitable
advocacies is your musical project, Voice of
the Wetlands, which is dedicated to raising
awareness and money for coastal restoration
and preservation. What impact have you
seen the decimation of our coastal marshes
have on our fisheries and wild game habitat?
TAB:
I started Voice of theWetlands in 2003
to get the musicians that I knew, especially
the ones from New Orleans, together to get
the word out, because I knew then that New
Orleans was in trouble, and the people in
the city had no idea what was happening on
Cajun food takes a long time to cook, so you gotta
have something to do while you’re waiting to eat.
As soon as the roux starts cooking, to a kid, it
smells like it’s ready, but then, your Mama would
tell you “it won’t be done for another 3½ hours,
so go play this,” so we’d sit around playing music
to pass the time until the food was ready. In that
sense, food and music were tied very closely together.
Tab Benoit performing at 2013 New Orleans Jazz and
Heritage Festival. Right to left, Tab Benoit (Vocals Guitar),
Terrence Higgens (Drums), Cory Duplechin (Bass)