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Filipino settlers introduced Louisiana to dried shrimp [1]

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Date: 2024-05-17  

Filipino settlers are credited with revolutionizing the fishing and shrimp industries. Credit: Louisiana Sea Grant Digital Images Collection

In Lake Borgne off the coast of St. Bernard Parish, 18th century settlers performed the “Shrimp Dance,” which introduced Louisiana to dried shrimp.

Filipinos, the first Asian settlers in the United States, established a marshland community called St. Malo. The community existed as early as 1763 when Louisiana and the Philippines were ruled by the Spanish government in Mexico, according to the History Channel. The hot, sticky climate and mosquitos reminded the Manilamen – as they were called – of their native land.

Lafcadio Hearn described the area in an 1883 “Harper’s Weekly” magazine article: “Out of the shuddering reeds… rise the fantastic houses of the Malay fishermen, posed upon slender supports above the marsh … All (the houses) are built in true Manila style … but in wood; for it had been found that palmetto and woven cane could not withstand” the violent climate.

The Filipino settlers are credited with revolutionizing the fishing and shrimp industries. Their Shrimp Dance, for instance, preserved shellfish before there were refrigerators.

According to Liz Williams, New Orleans Southern Food and Beverage Museum founder, the Manilamen boiled the shrimp in brine before laying them out on 360-yard platforms to dry. After several days, they walked in circles on the shrimp with fabric-covered feet until the shells crumbled and fell away.

“You see, [dried shrimp] was almost like a gift that just kept on giving through the season when everything else was out,” Cajun and Creole cuisine expert John Folse told the BBC. “We could always count on the fact that we had preserved that particular ingredient.”

Historical markers commemorate St. Malo and Manila Village, another Filipino settlement in Barataria Bay. Both were destroyed by hurricanes: St. Malo in 1915 and Manila Village in 1965.

Much of their histories have been forgotten, but not dried shrimp.

When I think of it,” Folse said, “I think, ‘My god, what in the heck would we have done without it?’ ”

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[1] Url: https://veritenews.org/2024/05/17/filipino-settlers-introduced-louisiana-to-dried-shrimp/

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