is a Cajun autobiographical cookbook. From crawfish boils to cooking shows, from folk art to family traditions, interest in Cajun culture has never been greater. But how Cajun do you really want to be? Spanning five years of research, interviews, writing, and planning, is a cookbook like no other. Throughout the book, Jim LaBove recounts the story of his childhood in the mid-20th century, documenting an oft-overlooked segment of Cajun culture: Bayou Cajuns, the descendants of Acadian immigrants who settled in the marshy coasts of Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana. Along the way, Jim shares a wide variety of authentic Cajun recipes from his mother Cora, using the ingredients and methods available to the people in the area at the time. The dishes are deeply tied to Jim's memory of bayou Cajun life in the salt marshes of Southeast Texas. As you learn to cook gumbo, court-bouillon, peach cobbler, and much more like a true Cajun, you will also learn about the rough but rewarding lifestyle that inspired the people who codified these dishes. The book is named after Cotton's Seafood, a locally-renowned fishing and shrimping company that Jim's father Cotton founded in the early 20th century. Gorgeously illustrated with Jim's field sketches, contemporary photographs, and maps of bayou Cajun territory. Exhaustively researched. Lovingly detailed. This is our family legacy, printed and bound. We could not be more proud of it, and we cannot wait to share it with you.