In rural Cajun Mardi Gras, what preferred ingredient do mounted maskers chase?

In rural Cajun Mardi Gras, mounted maskers traditionally chase a live chicken as their preferred ingredient.

The custom belongs to the Courir de Mardi Gras, a rural Louisiana tradition in which masked men on horseback ride through the countryside collecting ingredients for a communal gumbo. At each home, maskers entertain residents with music, dancing, and comic antics before asking for food.

A householder may throw a live chicken to the riders, who chase it down as a symbolic hunt. Rice, sausage, vegetables, and, when necessary, a frozen chicken may also be contributed. The chicken is then used with the other ingredients in the meal prepared later.

The tradition has roots in 18th-century Cajun communities. It declined in the early 20th century because of violence and was revived in Mamou, Louisiana, in the early 1950s. The chase is not a turkey hunt or a crawfish-gathering ritual; the live chicken is the characteristic ingredient associated with this Mardi Gras custom.