Let ’ s talk food . How did you guys start cooking ?
Brandon : Really , it was [ just ] a thing , being there in Louisiana , loving the food , loving the flavors , and just being around it all the time . Our grandparents were huge cooks – our grandmothers on both sides . Actually , I ’ m sorry Memaw didn ’ t really cook near as much as Granny did .
Mike : “ Memaw the Magnificent ” is what we called her .
Brandon : Yeah , Memaw the Magnificent and our parents . Our grandmother , Granny , on our dad ’ s side , always emphasized No . 1 that when family was together , food was everything . She wasn ’ t really obsessed about it , but it definitely had to be on point . You finished with breakfast and immediately she would ask , “ All right , what are we making ? What ’ s for lunch ?”
As far as a lot of the traditional dishes go , those were things we always made when the family got together . Whether it was Christmas , or something else , we always emphasize that even if it ’ s traditional there ’ s always Cajun in the mix . That ’ s the way a lot of people from Louisiana celebrate- having a traditional dish in the mix like turkey but stuffing it with boudin or dirty rice . As far as the cooking sizes , the techniques , and stuff go , I ’ m kind of all over the place with the techniques . You know how the process is done with starting your base , whether or not it be for gumbo , Étouffée , or red beans and rice , there ’ s a process to it if you ’ re making it from scratch .
We ’ re not talking about going to get out the boxes of Zatarains . Now we love you guys , Zatarains . We love to use their crawfish boil mix , but when you ’ re making it from scratch , you ’ re using fresh products , like your trinity , garlic , and creating roux . That ’ s how a lot of the traditional dishes are started , with flour and oil .
Let ’ s talk about the Crawfish Festival and how it started .
Brandon : The Crawfish Festival started five years ago now . We have a mutual friend here in town . He ’ s the original owner of Kroner and Baer , and he ’ s Cajun , straight-up Cajun . He opened up Kroner and Baer , and we just became good friends . Then we started thinking , “ Hey man , it would be fun to do a festival .”
We just took it from there . We tried
our first one back five years ago , and it really was one of those things where the community really came together for it . We loved being able to bring what we had experienced growing up in Louisiana having crawfish festivals and Mardi Gras to Tahlequah .
You mentioned Kroner and Baer before ; do you have any other collaborators that you work with for the festival ?
Mike : We do have collaborators who are partners with people , as far as the music . This year we ’ re having deejays coming in and playing in between music . One of the things I ’ m looking forward to is having a New Orleans-style brass band this year .
They ’ re actually out of Tulsa , and they ’ re called King Cabbage Brass Band . They ’ re going to march up through Muskogee Avenue , and then also going to be performing at other times . It ’ s really going to bring out that New Orleans , Bourbon Street , kind of vibe to the festival , so [ I ’ m ] really excited about that .
Brandon : What I ’ m looking forward to is going to be an entry fee tournament format , where you see how fast you can eat 1 or 2 pounds of crawfish and narrow down the best two or three [ entries ]. On the last part of the day on Saturday , [ April 15 ], we will basically do a face-off in front of everyone . Whoever wins might get a really cool ice chest or some type of cool prize to give away .
[ The Crawfish Festival ] is growing this year . There ’ s going to be more of an area
Green Country Scene • Volume 4 • Issue 2 7