anthony: so if i knew you were coming, what would be appropriate preparations be? i should have some food on hand? bruneaux: you could throw money. you could donate a couple of chickens that they could chase and grab. anthony: right. jay: basically, just board up the windows and make like there s a hurricane coming. open up the barn, put everything in the barn, lock the barn. i m talking about down to a shovel. if a mardi gras finds a shovel just leaning up against the back of the house, they re going to grab it, dig a hole, and bury another mardi gras. jackie: i know. anthony: i will be taking part in the mardi gras run this year. and one does not interject oneself among hundreds of drunk cajuns without proper attire. fortunately, grandma jackie is one of the premier couturier of such specialty garb in these parts. how many masks and outfits do you do a year? jackie: masks, i guess i made about 50. usually i have 50 or 60 a year. anthony: so you re working on those all
jackie: a lot of people just say i want a suit. or if i have one, they say, oh, i like this one. i like this one. now if they come to me and they say, i want the saints, or lsu, i say, nope, i make traditional tee mamou mardi gras costumes. i don t make one that looks like santa claus or anything like him. they have to be traditional, or i don t make them. here it is. anthony: oh yeah. [ laughter ] that s amazing. oh yeah. it s fearsome, that s great. let me just try it on. jay: there you go. uh-huh. anthony: oh, yeah. jay: yeah. anthony: all right. jay: that s all you. anthony: give me a chicken. larry: give me a chicken. jackie: you bring on the chickens. anthony: oh man, it looks great. oh yes, i m going to wear this
and these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty, through christ, our lord. amen. bruneaux: and, good food, good meat, great god, let s eat. jay: let s eat. bruneaux: god damn it, let s eat. jay: you ve got to pray before you cuss. anthony: as one does. jay: it s the order before you do it. bruneaux: tony, we always start with rice. jay: i m going to get some wine for everybody. bruneaux: yeah, let s start with some jay s going to pour us some wine. anthony: this is beautiful. so everybody excited about tomorrow, the big day? bruneaux: yeah. oh, yeah. anthony: and there are how many days to recover? jackie: well, we have the whole lent to recover. anthony: right. jackie: there you go. the music and the food are part of what makes us cajun. larry miller: and the mardi gras is a very important part of who we are as a people. so we re keeping those traditions going. we re starting the fifth generation of my family running mardi gras. an
consolations however for our mighty hunters. back at the miller home, grandma jackie prepares fresh-baked bread. while uncle bruneaux cooks up some traditional family specialties. shrimp and okra. sweet potatoes, rice of course. and pod au pu, heirloom peas from grandpa larry s garden. all in all, things worked out okay in the end. miller family: bless us, o lord. and these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty, through christ, our lord. amen. bruneaux: and, good food, good meat, great god, let s eat. jay: let s eat. bruneaux: god damn it, let s eat. jay: you ve got to pray before you cuss. anthony: as one does. jay: it s the order before you do it. bruneaux: tony, we always start with rice. jay: i m going to get some
and as i understand it, it was kind of license to mock the people you were larry: yeah, they were anthony: who were leaving you out of the party. jackie: that s where the tall, conical hats come from. in mockery of the queen. they were proud people, and they didn t want to be recognized. that s why they disguised their face. and not to feel like they were taking charity, so they put on a performance. jay: so at each home that we stop at, there s like a little party that goes on. anthony: right. so they know you re coming? and you know what you re expecting? jay: it s already pre-arranged. like, they know we re coming, they have a chicken. and they cook something, and