Bourgeois Meat Market

The town of Schriever lies deep in south Louisiana, well south of the bustle of New Orleans and Baton Rouge, and past bayous, cane fields, moss-heavy oaks, and towns with thick French names. It’s not uncommon for locals to slide a lilting mais, chere! into conversations. But Schriever’s best defining feature is likely its Cajun meat market. The story of Bourgeois Meat Market began more than 120 years ago. In 1891, a man named Valerie Jean-Batiste Bourgeois began slaughtering one pig or cow at a time and peddling the resulting fresh cuts by horse and carriage to bayou hamlets; not returning home until the entire animal had been sold. Bourgeois’ Meat Market is best known for its unique Cajun beef jerky, which has created a generation of near-addicted fans. Today, Bourgeois’ sells 1,000 pounds of beef jerky a week. Oil field  salesmen regularly stop at Bourgeois’ on weekday mornings to stock up on jerky to butter up prospective customers all across south Louisiana .