It was the 2022 Boudin Cook-Off and Acadiana Bacon Fest that inspired amateur boudin makers and best friends Jonathan Linzer and Julius Flugence to go pro.
Linzer and Flugence, who started making backyard boudin in 2020, won the people's choice award for the best boudin at last year's cook-off. That's when they decided to open Lazy Caveman in Broussard so people could enjoy their boudin year-round.
"That's the very essence of this celebration of our shared culinary culture," said Bob Carriker, who started the free community event 16 years ago. "We welcome all boudin makers and bacon-centered cooks to showcase their talents and innovation."
Lazy Caveman opened March 22 at in a gas station at 844 S. Morgan Ave. in Broussard.
Initially, Lazy Caveman offered boudin, boudin balls and boudin egg rolls. The business has since expanded to include breakfast and lunch plates to showcase Linzer and Flugence's skills. Among the popular offerings include fried ribs and pork chops, chicken cracklins, meatball stew and spicy honey-blueberry sausage biscuits.
"We've been able to build a business slow and steady and diversify it," Linzer said.
Linzer and Flugence, both 43, have been best friends for 30 years and have bonded over backyard barbecues since their college years.
It wasn't until the early days of the pandemic that Linzer and Flugence tried their hand at making boudin, however, after Flugence's brother bet the duo they couldn't do it.
"It was during COVID when we had nothing else to do, so we started messing around in the backyard and giving it away to friends and family, our guinea pigs," Linzer said. "And from there, we started tweaking our recipe, batch after batch."
They weren't proud of their boudin until the eighth or ninth batch. Although they received favorable responses from friends and family, it wasn't until they entered the Boudin Cook-Off in 2022 that they realized they might be able to share their passion with the community in a bigger way.
Linzer and Flugence started hunting for retail space to open a small boudin and smoked meat shop after the cook-off. They named their business Lazy Caveman for the nickname friends and family gave them during their backyard barbecues.
"We would always smoke the meats and never make any sides," Linzer said. "Everybody was like y'all are like cavemen. Y'all don't focus on anything but the meats."
The friends have since learned the importance of sides to pair with their breakfast and lunch plates. The "lazy" part of the name comes from the bourbon, wine and conversation they enjoyed while waiting for their meats to smoke.
"We'd just kick back and let the time pass," Linzer said. "It's six to eight hours to smoke a meat, so we'd just hang out in the backyard, have a few drinks and share some laughs with family and friends."
Linzer and Flugence plan to defend their people's choice title at this year's Boudin Cook-Off and Acadiana Bacon Fest, which happens from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Parc International in downtown Lafayette.
The 16th annual event will feature boudin and bacon from 16 teams, live entertainment, sampling, eating contests and children's activities. Proceeds support local musicians through the Blue Monday Mission. Learn more at boudincookoff.com.