Tony Chachere Himself
About Tony Chachere
Opelousas, Louisiana is the home of the legendary Tony Chachere (sash-er-ee), a noted sportsman, chef and bon vivant of the area. He was of French descent, born in Opelousas in 1905. Hard work followed by success was the pattern of his life.
At age seven, Tony was meeting the 2:30 a.m. train from New Orleans to pick up the big city morning papers for neighborhood delivery. Then he was off to school and back again for the afternoon papers after class was dismissed. At 12, he switched to delivering prescriptions and sundries for a local drugstore. He soon graduated to soda jerk, then clerk, and after intensive study and instruction he became a registered pharmacist and practiced this profession until age 30. During two depression years, he traveled as a drug salesman for a local wholesale drug firm, then founded his own wholesale drug business. He worked out of his garage at first and finally parlayed a borrowed $100 into a million.
A New Challenge for Tony Chachere
He fulfilled his dream of retiring at age 50, but being a man of action, after two years of leisure, he began a new challenge as a salesman for Equitable Life Insurance Society. He made the Millionaires club his first year and every year thereafter. After 13 years he was installed into the Equitable Hall of Fame – the highest honor bestowed upon an agent.
In 1970, Tony retired for the second time at age 65. He still sold insurance occasionally, but his primary focus was on hunting, fishing and fulfillment of another dream – to write a cookbook of his native cuisine.
Since his early 20’s, Tony loved to cook, and his natural talent, his imagination and flair for always being the best earned him a reputation as a notable chef. Around Acadiana, he was known as the “Ole Master” of fine Cajun cuisine. His fishing and hunting camp on Bayou Big Alabama, in the Atchafalaya Swamp near Opelousas, was famous as a gourmet ha
ven. His culinary talents have delighted palates from all over the United States, Mexico and Canada. For when good fellows got together, Tony invariably headed for the kitchen while everyone else headed with their dinner plates to the chow line. His effervescent shout of “tonight, I’m gonna make’em cry!” was always a promise of unsurpassed culinary delicacies soon to be conjured up!
Tony fished and hunted practically ever noteworthy lake, bayou and wood in Louisiana. He fished Canadian and Mexican streams, hunted duck, deer, and quail in Texas, white wing doves in Old Mexico, and pheasant and grouse in the Dakotas. Everywhere he went, he enchanted native palates with his Cajun Cooking, at times cooking for as many as 800 people. He also picked up many good recipes along the way.
The Famous Creole Seasoning
With his special knack, his famous Creole Seasoning and other fine products, Tony was a frequent guest on TV talk and cooking shows throughout the South and as far East as Baltimore. He cooked for several governors of Louisiana, Miss America, and national conventions of the National Restaurant Association and American Culinary Federation. Features about him and his recipes have appeared in the food pages of many newspapers and magazines. His famous seasoning has been used in dozens of other cookbooks, cooking contests, and even in a couple of movies.
Tony semi-retired from his third career in 1981, at age 76. He still continued to develop new food products and perfect his recipes. In March 1995, he was honored as the first inductee into the Louisiana Chefs Hall of Fame. He died just one week later, three months shy of his 90th birthday.
Tony Chachere will never be forgotten in Cajun Louisiana. He lived a legendary life and will be a legend in years to come. Though he left a lasting impression in the business fields he entered, he will be remembered best as a bon vivant with a rare and wonderful sense of humor, a man who was “at home” with every one who knew him.
