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A person is placing large tobacco leaves onto a wheeled cart in a field under a cloudy sky. Another individual can be seen in the background on the cart. The scene captures agricultural work in a rural setting.

Perique

Photographs by Charles Martin

with essays by Mary Ann Sternberg and John H. Lawrence

A documentary photographer’s reverent depiction of the process of cultivating and curing a unique variety of tobacco in Cajun Louisiana.

Cover of a book titled Perique featuring a black and white photograph of elderly hands, one holding tobacco leaves while the other sprinkles shredded tobacco. The book is by Charles Martin, part of The Historic New Orleans Collection.

Perique: Photographs by Charles Martin

HNOC 2012 
softcover • 9" × 10" • 104 pp.
50 b&w images
ISBN 978-0-917860-62-1

$25.00

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Perique, prized by connoisseurs as the strongest and most flavorful of tobacco varietals, is cultivated only one place on earth: a thirty-square-mile tract of land in St. James Parish, Louisiana. Harvested, bunched, and stemmed by hand, the tobacco is pressure-cured for a year in whiskey barrels. The labor-intensive cultivation process dates to the early 19th century; its rituals have descended as occupational folklore through a small group of St. James Parish families.

Photographer Charles Martin (b. 1961) spent eight years documenting the tradition of his forebears. Vulnerability lends urgency to this study: only a handful of working farms remain dedicated to perique cultivation, and fewer and fewer young people embrace the agricultural lifestyle of their parents and grandparents.

A man with a beard, wearing a tank top, stands amidst large tobacco leaves in an outdoor field, with piles of the leaves stacked around him. The sky is overcast, creating a moody atmosphere.
After being left to wilt for a few hours, the heavy stalks are collected with a wagon called a cot. HNOC, gift of Charles Martin, 2013.0408.15
A person with a shaved head and a sleeveless shirt is sorting and handling large dried leaves in a dimly lit room. Several boxes filled with similar leaves surround them. The atmosphere appears rustic and industrious.
Clipping is the process by which the fattest part of the leaf stem, which can hold water and ruin the tobacco, is removed. HNOC, gift of Charles Martin, 2013.0408.30

“There was great advantage in having family members—with the aid of willing friends and neighbors—working together, planting and transplanting, stripping and curing. Each generation passed its secrets along to the next, which allowed aficionados to swear that producing a fine perique was like trying to make the perfect gumbo—an art form.”

Close-up of two hands with worn, dirty nails wrapping a large bundle of dried leaves, possibly tobacco, on a flat surface. The black and white image highlights the texture and detail of the fingers and leaves.
“Dressing the pack” is the traditional way of preparing perique, but extremely time consuming. The best leaves are used to wrap the packs, making them easy to handle and more attractive. HNOC, gift of Charles Martin, 2013.0408.34
A worker fills wooden barrels with a long pipe in a rustic, wooden interior. The barrels are marked and lined up on a wooden floor, and the worker wears jeans and boots while concentrating on his task.
House jacks are used to create pressue in the barrels, where the tobacco ferments in its own juice. A couple of times during processing, the charges are removed, aired, and repacked. HNOC, gift of Charles Martin, 2013.0408.36

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