Fall 2002

J.B. Richard

When the UL Lafayette Alumni Association wants to serve its guest some of the best pork jambalaya around, it calls on J.B. Richard of Scott, La., and his pals.

“There aren’t many leftovers. It’s delicious,” said Dan Hare, executive associate director of the Association.

Richard has been serving up his specialty at alumni events for several years. The retired postmaster is assisted by three other retired postal workers: Eddie Louviere, Irving Domingue and Wallace Latiolais. Sometimes, one of Richard’s sons, Tommy, lends a hand. Richard’s wife, Ruth, and Latiolais’ wife, Jeanne, often help serve the dish.

‘‘We have no recipe, as such,’’ Richard said. But the quality of the jambalaya is consistent. That’s because he always gets the ingredients from Early’s Food Store in Scott, he explained. Workers there season the meat just right and chop all the vegetables so that everything is ready to be cooked when Richard picks it up.

First, he browns the pork in big cast iron pots that sit on propane burners. Then he adds rice. After experimenting with cooking methods, he has settled on Minute Rice. “You can’t burn it. The grains separate. It’s just so easy,” he explained.

The Scott crew cooks for 300 to 500 people, depending on the Alumni Association’s event. Jambalaya is usually served at all home Ragin’ Cajun football games, the kickoff party for Homecoming, and at a National Football Signing Day event, a gathering held to announce the names of football players who have committed to play for UL Lafayette.

Preparing jambalaya for that many people evolved from cooking for his own family. The Richards have seven grown children who have kids of their own.

“When we get together, just the immediate family is 41 people,’’ Richard said.

While the Richard’s children were growing up, Ruth did all of the cooking. But after retiring with 32 years of service as the Scott postmaster, J.B. started cooking large quantities of various dishes, including jambalaya.

For about 10 or 12 years, he’d fly to St. Paul, Minn., every Labor Day to cook for his brother-in-law’s family, who lived there. The group was so big that it would congregate at a public park in St. Paul that had an outdoor kitchen.

Richard likes to tell about the time a couple of guys who were walking on the park’s jogging path stopped to talk with him. ‘‘We don’t know what you’re cooking, but it smells like Louisiana,” one of them said. It turned out that they had lived in the Bayou State, so they recognized the tantalizing aromas. Of course, they were invited to pick up a plate and join the family.

Richard attended SLI from 1938 until 1940, when he joined the Air Force. After World War II, he managed to go back to SLI for a couple of semesters, but the demands of his work and young family prevailed. ‘‘Regrettably, I never got my degree,’ he said.

But two of his children have USL diplomas, Donald E. Richard, ‘78, and Byron C. Richard, ‘80. Two others, Helen Richard Kennedy and Camille Richard Boudreaux, attended the University.

Richard and his friends sometimes cook jambalaya for other UL Lafayette groups, such as the Marching Band. They ask for the cost of the ingredients to he covered, but their labor is free.

“No pay whatsoever,” Richard said. ‘‘We do it for fun.”