Day Trips: Boutte’s Boudin Cajun Market and Deli, Lumberton

Ashley Frank and Loretta Singleton (photos by Gerald E. McLeod)

Boutte’s Boudin Cajun Market and Deli in Lumberton offers a rotating menu of lunch specials, as well as a selection of Louisiana spices and foods. In the back of the building is a large commercial kitchen where some of the best boudin west of the Sabine River is made.

Ashley Frank runs the cafe and market while her mother Loretta Singleton oversees the manufacturing operation.

First off, I asked Ashley how to pronounce the company’s name. I’ve heard “booties,” “boots,” and “boo-days.” She pronounced it something close to “boo-teys.”

Ashley’s parents bought Ronnie Boutte’s boudin recipe after he died in 1990. They moved the Lafayette, La., operation to Lumberton. Their manufacturing plant also makes several Louisiana food products for other labels. In 2013, they added the retail market and prepared foods to cook at home like pork tenderloin stuffed with boudin, cream cheese, and jalapeños wrapped in bacon.

“I grew up eating boudin,” Ashley says (her mother is a proud Cajun). “Everybody makes their boudin a little different. Some are a little meatier, some are moister, and some have chopped veggies. And, of course, everybody has their own recipe of spices.”

Boutte’s Boudin is Lafayette-style – a slightly moist mixture of pork and rice with a spicy bite in a link. Add boudin balls, cracklins, beignets, and meat pies (made in Natchitoches, La.), and you’ve got an authentic Cajun meal.

A former sawmill town, Lumberton is a bedroom community of Beaumont about 15 miles to the south. It is home to Village Creek State Park, and 18 miles from the headquarters of the Big Thicket National Preserve.

Boutte’s Boudin is at 568 N. LHS Dr. (U.S. Highway 287). The market is open Monday through Saturday, and lunch plates are served Monday through Friday. Boutte’s Boudin can be found in markets in Austin and Houston, but where is the fun in that?

1,699th in a series. Everywhere is a day trip from somewhere: Follow “Day Trips & Beyond,” a travel blog, at austinchronicle.com/daily/travel.