Scott Boudin Festival

The Scott Boudin Festival is one of those that hold a special place in my heart, because I love all things boudin.

Tl;dr

Billy’s had the best boudin ball at the festival. The festival featured more than just boudin balls.

About Boudin

Don’t know what boudin is? Wikipedia defines it as a type of sausage. According to the article, there are a variety of types such as blood, white, gator, etc. In South Louisiana, Boudin is normally a mixture of pork parts, seasonings and rice stuffed into a sausage casing. If you like dirty rice, you’ll love boudin as it’s pretty much a portable version of dirty rice.

About the Festival

The Scott Boudin Festival takes place in Scott, LA. Scott is the self proclaimed boudin capital of the world. After tasting many different styles of boudin, I do not dispute that claim. I don’t believe i’ve had better boudin than what I’ve had in Scott. The festival itself features a fair with rides for kids of all ages, and bands that play a variety of music across the multiple days the festival is held. Scott, Louisiana is located just east of Lafayette, LA at exit 97 on I-10. (map link)

The Boudin

This is probably the part you’ve come here for. I tasted boudin from pretty much every vendor in the boudin food court they had set up. To do the best comparison tasting, I decided to go with the boudin balls from each vendor. I will be listing them from least favorite to most favorite.

Disclaimer: All of the boudin was good. Just because it was least favorite that doesnt mean it wasn’t good.

The Best Stop

Ok, I disclaimed above, but after giving it some more thought, this boudin was edible and had flavor, but compared to the others it was garbage. When I approached this booth, I saw they were selling their boudin balls 2 for 1 ticket, which was a dollar. Every other booth’s boudin was at least a dollar or more. At first I was excited, but after tasting I realized why it was half the price of the others.

Overall, this boudin was boring and greasy. The breading on the outside was basic. It did not hold up well to me taking a bite as it pretty much fell to pieces when I attempted to eat. Somehow, this boudin mixture defied the laws of physics and retained much of the cooking oil. Because of its grease factor, I was unable to get over the flavor of fryer oil to enjoy the rest of the flavors of the meat, rice and seasoning this ball had to offer.

It’s unfortunate that the name of this place is The Best Stop, as this was the worst stop on my journey to boudin greatness. I am willing to stop by their store to try it again. Maybe I caught them on a not so great day.

The Best Stop is located on Hwy 93 in Scott if you want to stop by and try their boudin. (The Best Stop map link)

Menards

This was the first vendor I decided to try. They had an amazing looking spread in their countertop food warmer. At first glance, the ball had an amazing looking outer crust. It appeared chicken fried. When I bit into it it was a different story. The outer shell was chewy and not crispy at all. Perhaps it turned chewy as it sat in the heat box for a long time and moisture was able take over and ruin the crispness. The boudin inside the ball was good, but not as flavorful as i’d like. If I was in Duson, LA and wanted some Boudin, I would totally stop at Menard’s. (map link to Menard’s)

Don’s Specialty Meats

It was a hard decision for me to make to decide between the top two. Don’s came in a close second to the top. This ball at first glance appears of your basic restaurant style qualtiy boudin ball, but man this ball packs a lot of flavor. It was fried to perfection, had a great crispness and held up wellwhen biting into it. The boudin in the ball was seasoned pretty damn well. I really enjoyed this Boudin Ball. Don’s probably doesnt want to hear this, but if they chicken fried that bad boy it would have been my top pick for the festival.

Billy’s Boudin

Here comes the king. Here comes the king! Billy’s is the undisputed king of boudin. Everywhere I go, anyone I talk to says if you want some boudin you should get it from Billy’s. When I approched Billy’s tent, they had the biggest crowd/line of any of the boudin vendors at the festival.

Billy’s consistently has the best boudin, no matter what location of their’s I get it from. I’ve originally enjoyed it at their Krotz Springs, LA location. I’ve also had it from their Scott, LA location. The ball I ate at the festival did not disappoint. They seemed to be faced with the same mobile cooking challenges as the rest of the vendors, but their product was as good as I’ve enjoyed from their physical locations.

The ball had an amazing chicken fried style crust. The outer crust was seasoned well. They could probably just bag up boudin ball crust and sell that and peopel would buy it. The boudin inside was also just as delightful. Great flavor with just the right amound of heat from spice.

This was my last stop on my tasting tour. I made billy’s my last stop because I had a suspicion I would have enjoyed this the best, and I didnt want to ruin my tastings of all the other vendors.

Bonus – The Boudin Waffle

Ok, I know this post has been all about comparing balls to balls, but hands down the best thing I ate at the festival was the Boudin Waffle from Romero’s Grocery and Specialty Meats. Boudin Waffle you say? Yes, Romero’s somehow figured out how to bring all the greatness of the flavor of boudin, and infuse it into a delicious syrup covered treat. The thing I love about this is you get all the great salty and spicy flavors of boudin and you get to top it off with the sweetness of syrup. I would totally eat this for breakfast. It’s bigger than just a festival novelty. What I don’t know as of this writing is if the boudin waffle is avaialble at their physical location. I need to go there to find out one day.

Romero’s grocery has a couple locations in south Louisiana. (Facebook page link)