July 2011. In Lafayette, cousins add a little Sicilian spice to their Cajun roux.

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Like most cooks in South Louisiana, Janice Macomber has her own way of creating a roux.

And around here, everyone wants to add in their own two cents. While Macomber instructed a lunch audience in the culinary nuances of a traditional Cajun gumbo at The Accidental Chef cooking school in Lafayette, her students offered feedback, everything from the pots they used to what their mothers insisted was right.

Macomber takes it all in stride, showing off both her secrets from years as a culinary instructor and her Cajun background growing up in Abbeville.

“This is how my mother did it,” she says with a smile, stirring the oil and flour mixture in a cast iron pot that’s as much a part of her family as her children. And while she stirred, she shared tips on everything from how to avoid lumps in the roux (“never stop stirring”), when to add onions (“I’d rather sweat mine in the roux”) and the most advantageous way to brown chicken (“with skin and bones on”).

“When the roux gets the color of the bayou after a hard rain, watch out,” Macomber said, showing off a rich mixture that smelled like heaven itself.

Out-of-town guests who visit the newly opened cooking school in downtown Lafayette might not speak up when it comes to how a roux is made, but Macomber is as interested in spreading the time-honored traditions of Cajun cuisine to locals as she is to visitors.

“I will always have a roux demonstrated here,” Macomber said. “A lot of locals have no idea what a roux is.”

The school is owned and operated by Macomber and Carlos Russo, her first cousin who’s also from Abbeville. The two share a Sicilian background as well so classes range from the more traditional Louisiana fare such as crawfish étouffeé and chicken and sausage gumbo; to an Italian shrimp rosemary with garlic, artichokes and rosemary sprigs. Other Sicilian dishes include Italian Wedding Soup, Oyster and Fennel Capellini and Biscotti di Regina.

The duo took the name because they are “accidental chefs with a story,” Macomber said. “I became a chef six years ago when my first roommate in New Orleans asked me to guest chef at her place, The New Orleans Cooking Experience. I had not heard from her in thirty-five years!,” Macomber explained. “Next, I convinced Carlos that we needed a ‘school’ in Lafayette. The rest is history.”

The Accidental Chef is located in a renovated building next to a turn-of-the-century boarding house that’s been transformed into Esprit de Coeur, an elegant events facility. The cooking school doubles as a caterer for its neighbor, which attracts wedding rehearsal dinners, bridal showers, luncheons and the like.

“It’s a little touch of Soho in downtown Lafayette,” Russo said.

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