Take A Bite: Q&A with Chef Nathan Richard on cooking with alligator
April 4, 2018
The Good Earth Market
April 4, 2018
Since 2008, locally-owned Bourgeois Smokehouse & Specialty Meat has been supplying quality meats and services to people and businesses in the community.
John Bourgeois, third generation meat and butcher businessman and owner of Bourgeois Smokehouse, sold the local favorite, Bourgeois Meat Market to his brother in 2006. He wanted to focus on a new business that still sold delicious, fresh meat to people but that mainly supplied businesses with fresh product as well.
“For wholesale we do the beef jerky and snack sticks, stuff you’ll find in convenience stores,” John says, “We also do some private labeling for Rouses products. It’s their recipe, we just produce it for them.”
All the products along with the facility of Bourgeois Smokehouse are USDA certified. They are the only beef jerky plant in the state that produces beef jerky under federal guidelines, which adds even higher standards to their already famous beef jerky.
“I have an inspector here every day,” says John, “Everything has to be up to their standards.”
Being completely USDA certified isn’t the only thing that makes this business stand out in the area, but also the specialty and hard to find meats they offer. One specialty and local favorite they sell is their stuffed chicken, which they have six different stuffings for: rice dressing; cornbread dressing; broccoli; rice and cheese; crawfish boudin; Shrimp Etouffe; and green onion sausage. Two other specialty favorites are their smoked boudin and boudin balls.
“I think the hard to find products makes us stand out, such as the stuffed chickens and smoked boudin,” John says, “Most people I talk to, the nearest place they get them [stuffed chickens] is in Lafayette. Ours are deboned and handmade as well. I know there are a couple of places making boudin around here, but none of them are smoking the boudin. That’s really been a big hit.”
Bourgeois Smokehouse also offers a variety of other products for retail at their store, located at 1461 Tiger Drive in Thibodaux. Some of these products, that their website says are, “original family recipes and certified Cajun products,” include, stuffed breads, hogs head cheese, turkey cheese, smoked sausage, and cut-to-order, Angus Beef ribeyes.
They also have the Bourgeois Swamp Shake which they describe as, “a unique blend of seasonings created here at Bourgeois Smokehouse. This blend of seasonings can be used in just about any recipe. Use it to spice up your next dish whether cooking from scratch or just to add that extra flavoring to any prepared meal or snack.”
In addition to their high food standards and specialty products, Bourgeois Smokehouse also has a service that makes them differ from the competition. For the avid hunters, they offer wild game processing all year-round. They can debone the entire deer for a customer and have a list of over 15 different ways the can prepare the meat for them, including their also famous, summer sausage. They also vacuum, seal, and label all uncooked products.
“We have a tremendous deer business,” says John, “Another thing we do that no one else does is the little snack sticks with the deer meat and the summer sausage.”
Bourgeois Smokehouse also provides an online store, https://shop.bourgeoissmokehouse.com, to customers that can’t make to their store location. Customers can choose from an extensive list of products and have it shipped to them.
Excellent service online and in person, quality and special meats, and creative combinations makes the Bourgeois Smokehouse stand out from other similar businesses in the area. It’s no surprise that John has set such high standards for this wholesale company as his family has been in this business since 1891.
“We have good, friendly service, good prices, and good products,” John says. •
