American regional cuisine
Creole & Cajun

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culinary insights

Creole and Cajun are two of America's most original cuisines. They are also two of its best.

Location

New Orleans is the home of Creole Cuisine. Just east lies the heart of the secluded bayous, Cajun territory.

How Creole and
Cajun cuisines differ

Originally, the neighboring Creole and Cajun cuisines were markedly different. Over the centuries, the distinctions between the two blurred as cooks on both sides adopted each other's dishes.

However, food mavens can spot the unique qualities because the cooks of each cuisine modified the borrowed dishes in keeping with their culinary heritage (see my Cuisine Insights section later on this page for details).

Generally, Creole Cuisine is urbane while Cajun Cuisine is country style. Take Jambalaya as an illustration. The Creole version is more citified and complex, the Cajun, more down-home and straightforward. Both are delicious.

Famous
dishes to try

How many of these Creole and Cajun specialties have you tasted?

Crawfish Étouffée

The crawfish (which look like miniature lobsters) are slowly braised in a small quantity of a seasoned tomato mixture. The Crawfish Étouffée is then served over steaming rice.

Gumbo

Made with chicken, seafood and/or sausage. Can also be vegetarian. A gumbo is thickened with fresh okra ("gumbo" is West Africa) or ground dried sassafras leaves (filé powder).

Jambalaya

A seasoned mélange of meat (pork, seafood and/or sausage), vegetables and rice is cooked in one pan. Jambalaya is similar to and was influenced by Spain's paella. 

Oysters Rockefeller

Oysters on the half shell are seasoned, set on a bed of rock salt, then broiled. Oysters Rockefeller may or may not contain spinach, depending on the chef.

Red Beans and Rice

Kidney beans and rice are piqued with seasonings and with ham or sausage morsels. Served on a mound of rice.

Other renowned specialties

Alligator

The tail meat of the alligator is typically fried or braised - or ground into sausage meat.

Andouille

Smoked, seasoned sausage made with course-ground pork. An andouille is eaten directly or used as a flavoring ingredient.

Bananas Foster

Sliced bananas are flavored with cinnamon and brown sugar, then fried, then flambéed with a liqueur. Bananas Foster is served with vanilla ice cream.

Boudin Blanc

Seasoned sausage made with coarse-ground pork (often rice is added). The Cajun Boudin Blanc is heartier than the original French version.

Chicory Coffee

Brew is flavored with a touch of a ground roasted root. Chicory Coffee is the standard coffee in New Orleans.

Dirty Rice

Rice cooked with poultry giblets, which darkens its color.

Po-Boy

New Orleans most famous sandwich can be stuffed with almost anything, though the shrimp, oyster and roast beef versions are exceptionally popular. A Po-Boy (poor boy) style sandwich is known elsewhere in America by various names, including grinder, hero, hoagi, and sub.

Sazerac Cocktail

Potent. Made with whiskey, sugar and bitters. A local favorite.

Creole and Cajun
Cuisine insights

Origin

Creole Cuisine was fashioned by early French and Spanish immigrants, and by African slaves. Cajun Cuisine was created by the French Acadians (later shortened to Cajuns) and by major contributions from Native Americans.

Different lifestyles

Creole Cuisine materialized in New Orleans, a city with sophisticated tastes inherited from its refined French and Spanish immigrants. Black slave cooks added their creative touches. Elaborate sauces and complex cooking methods ensued.

In contrast, Cajun Cuisine emerged among a people who lived a hard life in the bayous, with a limited variety of cooking ingredients. They had to make do with what they had. An unfussy, down-home style of cooking emerged, without culinary bells and whistles. Yet, like New Orleans residents, they developed a splendid cuisine because they loved and demanded good cooking.

Cajun food myths

In the 1980s some out-of-state food writers and Cajun restaurants spread misconceptions about Cajun food that linger on:

“It is as hot as Sichuan and Mexican foods.”
Fact: Cajun cooks enthusiastically season with chili, but not to a palate-scorching degree.
“Blackened Redfish is a Cajun specialty.”
Fact: It was invented several decades ago in a New Orleans restaurant catering to local residents and tourists.
“Turducken is a Cajun specialty.”
Fact: The conversation-piece Turducken preparation (a de-boned chicken inside a de-boned duck inside a de-boned turkey) is not a traditional Cajun dish.

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