Chicken and Waffles Take a French Riviera Vacay

For those South Louisiana expats currently cooling their heels in some less civilized corner of the world and dreaming of fried food, Dig magazine recently featured a mini travelogue from Cecilia Ana Ramos-Dayer, winner of the Louisiana Culinary Institute's Race to Cannes competition. Ramos-Dayer won a trip to Cannes, which gave her the chance to explore the sunny wonders of the French Riviera, as well as recreate the dish that punched her ticket to Cannes for her small group of culinary peers living and working in The American Pavilion:

After being asked what dish won my ticket to Cannes, executive chef Ben Groegor gave me the opportunity to recreate that dish – well, at least a version of it.

The entrée I am talking about is chicken and waffles, which pretty much sums up my journey to and in France. Chicken and waffles means so much more to me than just a classic food combination. It is comfort, love, friendship, and family. Even though I did not grow up in the South, or have chicken and waffles often with my family, it is a meal that I love to make for my loved ones. This is the dish that most accurately embodies the reason I moved a thousand miles away from home to study culinary arts in Louisiana.

Louisiana's culinary creatives have dispersed far across the world; hopefully, they'll all come back. I mean, the French Riviera doesn't deserve any more amazing things in addition to the beach, movie stars, and world-class restaurants it already has, does it?

· Cooking in Cannes [Dig Baton Rouge]

Port of Cannes [Photo: Wiki Commons]