Egg-citing Week of Food

Another reason we keep coming back to Betty's is because there are so many things to do.  In addition to the daily happy hours and regular weekly happening, there are many festivals within a miles every weekend that offer crafts, music and food.

One that we have never been here for is Abbeville's Giant Omelette Celebration the first weekend of November.  As you can see, they cook the eggs on an open fire in the middle of the street.  The tradition goes back to the time of Napoleon when, after enjoying the eggs that were served to him in the town of Bessieres, he ordered all the farmers to bring their eggs to town and prepare an omelette for his army. From this event it became an Easter tradition to feed omelettes to the poor in the village.

I don't think there are any events in LA without some music.  On Sunday there was a Zydeco band (bottom) and the Fra Tras Cajun Band.  We know the drummer, bass player and accordionist in this group. 

A few of the people from Betty's who gathered to watch the egg-stravigant event.

In 1984 three citizens of Abbeville attended the Easter Omelette Festival in France and were knighted as the town's first chevaliers.  They decided to bring this French tradition to Louisiana.  The chevaliers carrying baskets of eggs and loaves of bread.

It takes a lot of cooks to make and serve a 5000 egg omelette.

Each year one more honored egg is added so this year there were 5030.  The honored egg was dubbed "Eggward Eggbert".  The tools of the trade to cook without burning all those eggs.  The woman in the cart is the last of Abbeville's original chevaliers.

Representatives of the cities that have omelette festivals in France, New Caledonia, Canada, Belgium and Argentina bring an international flair to the Abbeville festival.

You can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.

The giant skillet is moved into place with a forklift.  They use 50 lbs. of onions, 75 bell peppers, 4 gallons of onion tops, 2 gallons of parsley, 1.5 gallons of oil, 6.5 gallons of milk, 52 pounds of butter, 3 boxes of salt, 2 boxes of black pepper, crawfish tails and Tabasco Pepper Sauce to taste.

Baskets of bread ready to feed the masses.

In addition to the large skillet they have a small one for chevaliers in training.

The chevaliers keep mixing all the ingredients until the Head Gourmet gives the word that the eggs are ready to be served.

And then all the volunteers spoon out the eggs to be served to everyone in attendance.

They were so good we stayed for two servings.  If you are in Abbeville the the first weekend of November don't miss the Giant Omelette Celebration.

The next food happening this week was Linda (left) showing all who wanted to learn how to make spring rolls.  Here she is cooking the onions, carrots, celery and shrimp for Nanc's in the wok.  Others used meat rather than shrimp.

After the ingredients were cooked everyone wrapped theirs in dough.

The next step was deep frying them in oil and Dave stepped in as Linda's assistant.

Linda cut the extra dough into strips and made fried strips that were then seasoned for a crispy snack.

Nanc with the finished spring rolls and the wine she used while cooking.

Then, everyone gathered to enjoy their handy work.  We always eat well when we are at Betty's and you never know what kind of food it will be.  Thanks to Linda for the cooking class.