ST. MARTIN PARISH — On the last Saturday of each month, the smell of Creole cooking fills the air outside Louisiana Marketshops at 115 as Toni “Shug” Jones, a retired educator and social worker, continues to share her culinary expertise with the community. Originally from New Orleans, Shug’s love for food began in her grandmother’s kitchen. “My grandmother would put her chicken in the pot, she’d give me the little feet and a wing and I’d put that in my pot, she’d season and she’d pass it to me, then I’d season so I grew up cooking, the apron was down to my ankles.”
As she matured, Shug not only grew into her apron but also into her passion for cooking.“I cook with love,” she explains. “I don’t just take a pound of beans and put it in a pot and throw the onion in, throw salt in, throw the pepper in, throw the sausage in and let it—no, no, it’s in stages.” This attention to detail and dedication to her craft is evident in every dish she prepares.
After Hurricane Katrina damaged her home, Shug relocated to Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. “Deciding to come here and start chapter two, in a sweet town with sweet people, it’s been very rewarding and there’s not much more that I could ask for,” she reflects.
Shug’s love for the people in her new town extends beyond the kitchen. In addition to her cooking, she works as a licensed social worker and a school teacher. “I just love teaching. I think that knowledge is one of the best things that people can get.”
When Shug isn't sharing knowledge, she's gaining it. "I’m enrolled right now in a class at Harvard. It’s an online class, and it’s the science of cooking, so when I understand those things, I can really up my game."
In addition to her cooking and teaching, Shug has also created her own seasoning. And says she feels like culinary royalty.
When asked if she ever feels like the queen of the kitchen,Shug’s response is clear: “I’m the queen of my kitchen, I tell you that” she exclaimed.
A kitchen, where she holds onto the joy she first felt as a child, cooking and sharing meals with others. “I was doing something that I could share with people, that they enjoy, and that’s my joy.”
