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Oral Histories

The SFA oral history program documents life stories from the American South. Collecting these stories, we honor the people whose labor defines the region. If you would like to contribute to SFA’s oral history collections, please send your ideas for oral history along with your CV or Resume and a portfolio of prior oral history work to annemarie@southernfoodways.org.

< Back to Oral History project: Southern Gumbo Trail

ORAL HISTORY

Vaughn Schmitt

Gumbos all over New Orleans feature Vaughn Schmitt’s sausage. Along with his business partner Deanie Bowen, this second-generation sausage maker is proprietor of Creole Country Sausage Company, which offers a traditional andouille, a special-order mango sausage, and everything in between. Vaughn’s parents, Fab and Ricker Schmitt, started Creole Country in 1979. They felt compelled when their favorite sausage producer in Church Point, Louisiana, went out of business. After a two-week crash course—in Oklahoma of all places—they started filling casings. Today, Creole Country provides sausage to restaurants throughout New Orleans—a vital link in the city’s renowned gumbo tradition.

Date of interview:
2006-09-09

Interviewer:
Amy Evans

Photographer:

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