Prairie Acadian Cultural Center to hold chef demo

Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve’s Prairie Acadian Cultural Center in Eunice announced that its celebrity chef, Christopher Thames of Grand Coteau Bistro, will be unable to do a cooking demonstration on Saturday.
Instead, Home chef Johnny Reed has graciously stepped in to provide a demonstration on cooking a Chicken Sauce Piquant.
The demonstration is sschedule to begin at 4 p.m.
The audience will sample the dish and receive a recipe.
The center is located at 250 West Park Ave. More information about the demonstration and the center is available at 337-457-8499 or www.nps.gov/jela. Admission to the center and to the cooking demonstration is free.
Thames is known to many food fans as the 2011 Chopped Champion on the Food Network show “Chopped,” a challenge that demonstrated his ability to think on his feet and combine finesse with hard work. A biography of Thames with details about his 20-plus years of culinary experience is available at www.imdb.com/name/nm4574510/bio
After the demonstration, it’s time for the weekly Rendez-vous des Cajuns music show at its temporary location of Ruby’s Restaurant and Courtyard, 123 South Second St. in Eunice. The Saturday show will feature Cajun music great Iry Lejeune’s great-grandson Bubba Hebert and the New Morse Playboys at 6 p.m.
The Prairie Acadian Cultural Center is managed by the National Park Service as part of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve. The center features exhibits interpreting the culture of the Acadians who settled the prairies of southwest Louisiana.
Special programs every Saturday include Explore & Restore craft workshops for kids (10 a.m. to noon) and Cajun Conversations to learn and practice conversational Cajun French (1 to 2:30 p.m.). Saturday programs include music and dancing beginning at 2:45 p.m. and a cooking demonstration at 4 p.m.
The center is open 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday and Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. The center is closed on all federal holidays but open on Mardi Gras. Admission to the Prairie Acadian Cultural Center is free and all activities and demonstrations are free and open to the public.