29 louisianacookin.comAS SUMMER petered to a close in St. James Parish,
wild black cherries were in season. Th at’s when we
helped Daddy macerate the cherries in crock jars fi lled
with brandy. Slowly, autumn arrived on the river, which
meant harvesting persimmons, pecans, mandarins,
squash, and, of course, sugarcane. Before we knew it,
bonfi re season was upon us.
When the last school bell rang indicating that
Th anksgiving vacation had begun, all hands were on
deck to start gathering the necessary tools to create St.
James Parish’s best bonfi re
for the Christmas season.
Now, it always seemed that
a leader with managerial
skills somehow “rose to the
surface,” so to speak. As the
second-eldest Folse son, I quite oft en took that position.
In our early years, we made the traditional cone or
pyramid-style structures before graduating later to other
geometric shapes. We gathered drift wood from the river
and carefully stacked each log, one atop another. Once
the sides were steady and strong, we piled the interior
with kindling, a motley assortment of smaller logs, tree
branches, and willow branches.
It was during this same vacation week that it came
time to help Daddy bottle the wild cherry bounce.
Th e cherries were separated from the cherry-fl avored
brandy and discarded. It was also grinding season, so
sugar was added to the liqueur as needed to create thatdelicate sugar-brandy-cherry ratio. Now, if we were
lucky, a bottle might get “misplaced.” Th at meant we
had a little something to sip on while we secured the
most sought-aft er prize of all: an old rubber tire or two
from Papère’s tractor shed to burn when the bonfi re was
lit on Christmas Eve. (Th at was before the levee board
outlawed tires from the tradition.)
Years later, my daddy happened to meet winemaker
Robert Mondavi at my restaurant. Lo and behold, Daddy
told Mr. Mondavi that he was a winemaker, too, and
actually gave him a swig of
his homemade concoction.
Self-proclaimed cherry
bounce afi cionado that he
was, my daddy proudly told
him, “Th at wine is made just
a few miles up the road from here.” Mr. Mondavi, with a
twinkle in his eye, said, “Hmm, it doesn’t seem to travel
too well, does it?” Th ey laughed; I was mortifi ed. But that
was Daddy.
When Christmas Eve fi nally arrived, bonfi res
were lit up and down the west bank of the river, cherry
bounce fl owed, and friends gathered for steaming bowls
of chicken and andouille gumbo over rice. Christmas
sweets were plentiful: petits gâteaux, divinity fudge,
pecan pralines, and fruitcake were shared. Then we
walked to midnight Mass in thanksgiving for the
bountiful blessings the good Lord had bestowed upon us.
Faith, food, and family. Th at was a Merry Christmas!AFIELD & AFLOAT
by chef john d. folse“FAITH, FOOD, AND FAMILY.
THAT WAS A MERRY CHRISTMAS.”
Chef John D. Folse is an entrepreneur with interests ranging from restaurant development to food manufacturing, catering to culinary education.
Similar recipes can be found in The Encyclopedia of Cajun & Creole Cuisine (Chef John Folse & Company).CHERRY BOUNCE
AND BONFIRES
ON THE LEVEE