This may sound silly, but I’m crazy about boudin kolaches. There’s not a gas station along I-10 or a Crispy Donut location anywhere in Louisiana where I haven’t stopped to grab one of these sausage-stuffed pastries. While they take their name from the popular Czech pastry, Louisiana’s kolaches don’t actually bear much of a resemblance to the fruit-filled version you’d actually find in Central Europe.
Retro Baking Company (500 Texas Street, Shreveport), a new bakery located next door to The Missing Link in downtown Shreveport, recently introduced a kind of boudin kolache that I’d never seen before in Louisiana, and they may be the most delicious menu item under $5 in the entire city.
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Technically, these delicious little things are klobásník, which is sort of like a kolache, only stuffed with meat instead of fruit. Retro Baking Company’s Kandie Winchester told me that she opted to give these kolaches a round form, instead of the usual “pig in a blanket” appearance, so that she could stuff more filling into each $3 (or thereabouts) kolache. The boudin filling is great, but it’s the homemade bread – crisp, buttery, and fresh out of the oven – that distinguishes these kolaches. They’re fantastic.
Retro Baking Company also serves the more common, pig-in-a-blanket style of kolache that you’ve seen at donut shops all over the state, and those are much better than average, as well.
While we’re talking kolaches, I also love the ones that are served at Donut Haven (2041 E. Texas St., Bossier City), a no-frills donut shop in Bossier City. Everything about Donut Haven’s kolaches just tastes a little higher-quality than most. But Retro Baking Company has really raised the bar when it comes to this particular Louisiana delicacy.
Agree? Disagree? If you’re also obsessed with boudin kolaches and have an opinion on this very important matter, please make your voice heard in the comments.
20×49.com is a publication of the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau.
