REBECCA CARRASCO

PHOTO 1: Stripping the Perique tobacco before it is carefully packed into oaken barrels so the fermenting process can begin are, back left, Ray Martin, and Marion Russell, front right. (Staff Photos by Rebeccca Carrasco) GRAND POINT – “Tabac de perique” is a world-famous tobacco, slow burning, sweet smelling, a tobacco that grows, for reasons no one understands, only in St. James Parish. Its uniqueness bonds with the local soil, and the labor-intensive procedures utilized in its growth and cure, have long made it part of the parish’s distinctive flavor. According to tradition, early settlers learned about perique from Indians living near present-day Gramercy. The tobacco was cultivated and introduced into commerce at the beginning of the 19th century by Pierre Chenet. In the 1920’s nearly half a million pounds of perique were produced, but that amount had shrunk a decade ago to only about 15,000 pounds, from two farms in Grand Point, owned by Percy Martin Sr. and his third cousin, Pershing Martin. Pershing Martin has since retired. PHOTO 2: standing in front of oaken barrels of aging Perique tobacco is Percy Martin Sr., left, and his son Ray Martin, who now manages the farm. “Back when I was growing up,” Percy Martin recalled, “they had anywhere from 20 to 25 families growing perique. At one time, there were at least 500 acres of tobacco planted. Everybody had it. Everybody had family farms, and tobacco is a family crop. It is labor intensive and everyone in the family worked to produce it. If you had to hire somebody to do everything, tobacco would be way more expensive than what it is. In other words, it would not be feasible to grow it. You can’t pay that kind of labor.” Martin outlined the painstaking, traditional process by which perique is produced. “Tobacco seeds are first put in hot beds, in an environment like a hot-house, around Christmas,” he said. “They germinate, and when the plants get around six inches tall, around the end of March, we transplant them to the fields. It grows there from the end of March to the end of June, then we cut it and hang it in the barns to dry out.” The air cure may be part of the magic. “When it is hanging in the barn it is dry during the day, but it get damp and soft throughout the night because of the dew. Perique has a certain amount of moisture in it and probably that is why it is said to be a cool and slow-burning tobacco.” Wiping his forehead, Martin continued. “The heat like we have now helps cure the tobacco, and it stays in the barn for about 21 days drying out,” he said. “Next, we take it down and break all the leaves off, clean it and beat the dust out of it. Then we have to put a certain amount of water back in it to keep it moist. It has to have moisture in order to strip it and also when we put it in the barrels so that it can ferment adequately.” The fermentation also seems to be part of the magic. “Perique tobacco has to ferment,” Martin went on, “just like when you use cabbage to make sauerkraut. After it ferments you have black perique. It is packed evenly into barrels, say in July, and there it stays until February, when the fermentation will be over with. While it is fermenting the tobacco is under pressure, and the pressure has to be evenly distributed. It has to be watched every day.” Growing perique has always been a family business. “My father and grandfather, and great-grandfather too, they all worked tobacco farms,” Martin recalled. “I have been doing this all my life since I was a little kid. We had eight in the family and I was the only boy and the women they worked tobacco just like the men. The men did the heavy work and the women did the stripping of the tobacco underneath the shed.” “I have five sons,” Martin said. “They all help with the farm. My son, Ray, has taken over for me in managing the business. It is a family business. All my sons are involved in the cultivation of perique tobacco, as well as sugar cane and vegetables. We plant a little bit of everything – in the spring, tomatoes and bell peppers, and in the fall, cabbage and cauliflower.” But family farming is rapidly disappearing in the United States. “In Grand Point some local people want to grow the crop,” Ray Martin said, “but they have not yet committed themselves to it. Without barns and equipment you cannot grow tobacco. The cost of repairs to barns alone is expensive.” And farming is not only expensive, but hazardous. “This year Tropical Storm Allison destroyed the crop,” Percy Martin noted calmly. “The perique started to wither down and died – the storm killed it. We had to hurry up and cut whatever we could before it dried up in the field. If it dries up in the field then it is no good. It has no fiber and no body to it. This year we have a short crop. It has been a disastrous year.” Allison brought 23 inches of rain, according to Martin. “For five days that storm stayed on top of us. We lost everything but the sugar cane, which was damaged a little. It stayed underwater for over a week. We can salvage a little, but that is not going to be enough for expenses,” he said. A normal year brings 10,000-12,000 pounds of tobacco out of 13 acres. But this is the third straight year the Martin farm has had damage to its crops. Two years of drought, when the crops would not grow. This year, flood. “The tobacco we salvaged, the leaves are small but they look good and we can still make tobacco from it.” “I am dealing with some new buyers right now,” Martin said. “They are developing a new brand of cigars and selling the tobacco to a company in North Carolina called the Natural Tobacco Company. They make their cigars and cigarettes with perique tobacco.” Perique is used to blend with other tobacco. “If anyone smoked pure perique tobacco it would probably make them sick. A lot of smokers make their own blend. They use regular tobacco and use a pinch of perique and mix it for their pipe tobacco. Thus they pick up that perique favor. When it is burning it has a sweet flavor.” Martin has assured the company the family is going to keep on growing the tobacco as long as there is a market. Ray Martin confirmed that he planned to stay in the business until he retires, and his brother Brian Martin agreed: “We will continue in this business as long as we can.” Percy Martin’s namesake, Percy Martin Jr., also thought the family would continue to grow perique as long as there was a market. “However,” he added, “after we retire I don’t know who is going to take over the cultivation and production of perique tobacco. I am not married and I don’t have any kids, so I don’t know what is going to happen. Once my generation goes, I guess that will be it.”