About Beau Cherie Cajun Cooking

Nicole Butler grew up cooking two different kinds of food. Her mother preferred cuisine using French-inspired flavors and techniques, and her father adhered to recipes for down-home comfort foods. Being from southwestern Louisiana, Nicole didn't find these two styles to be that disparate, and she recognized the influences that each had in creating the region's iconic Cajun cuisine.

Nicole brought memories of those flavors to Austin, where she received her formal culinary training from Le Cordon Bleu. This education introduced her to the benefits of cooking with local and sustainable ingredients, which encouraged her to rethink the recipes she'd cooked throughout her childhood. At Beau Cherie Cajun Cooking, she combines homespun cooking tips with those she learned at culinary school, teaching students how to prepare relatively healthy Cajun staples without sacrificing the bold flavors.

Each hands-on lesson addresses a different theme, spending more then three hours on Cajun classics, Louisiana comfort foods, or French dishes. Recipes such as red beans and rice and beef bourguignon represent the cultural extremes, but dishes such as creamy bisque with crawfish tails and brandy demonstrate how the various styles work together in Cajun cuisine. After preparing a four-course meal, students sample the food before taking the leftovers home to practice for any upcoming food fights.