Louisiana Cuisine

What are the cultural influences of Creole and Cajun cuisine?

Difference between Cajun and Creole cooking?

Louisiana?

New Orleans' first settlements?

Tribes of Louisiana?

Established farms along the bayous west of New Orleans. They were French settlers forced out of Canada by the British during the Seven Years' War or the French and Indian War from 1756-1763. Those that settled in southern Louisana became known as Cajuns.

New arrivals from Europe who joined the already settled French and Spanish?

Louisiana process to statehood?

What makes for perfect conditions for Louisiana's crops?

Major crops of 19th century?

Descended from French bouillabaisse and renamed for West African word for okra, guingombo. It is a hearty soup or stew. Recipes vary between cooks. Dish can include hot peppers (Spanish), okra (Africans), and file powder (Native Americans). A culturally diverse dish that blends Spanish's love of rice and spices, the South's love for okra, the French technique for roux, and the Caribbean's art of seasoning. Traditionally served over or with rice.

Differences between New Orleans and southeastern and southwestern gumbo

Italian influenced, specifically Sicilian. Invented by Signor Lupo Salvadore, who opened Central Grocery on Decatur Street in the French Quarter in 1906. The sandwich was created for a favored customer. Named after the baker of the round bread the sandwich is served on. It is sliced round bread and stuffed with meats or seafood, cheeses, dressed with a salad of green and black olives. Sandwich is sliced into quarters.

Blue crab, oysters, shrimp, redfish, trout, flounder, pompano, and crawfish.

"Louisiana Lobster." Smaller and various colors. Can be found in swamps and marshes throughout. Known as a mudbug, crawdad, or craw daddy. Edible meat comes from tail. Available from December to May. 7 pounds of crawfish yields 1 poundof meat. Typical person eats 5 pounds of whole crawfish. best cooked in boiling salted water flavored with herbs and spices.

Portuguese for native to the region and later became Creole. Spainards gave the European settlers this name to define someone who has a refined cultural background with an appreciation for an elegant lifestyle.

Large reptile, indigenous to the swamps, rivers, and marshes. Considered a Cajun speciality. It is high in protein, low in fat and cholesterol. Compared to chicken. Tail and jaw sections are choice cuts.

Prepared tableside and made famous at Brennan's Restaruant. Cooking in a mixture of butter, brown sugar, rum, cinnamon, and banana liqueur. Served hot, right out of the pan, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Named after Dick Foster, a political figure and friend of the Brennan family. The restaurant claims that over 35,00 pounds of bananas are used each year.

Fish preparation invented by Chef Paul Prudhomme in 1979 at K-Paul. The fish is seasoned with a custom blend of Cajun spices and cooked at a very hot temperature in a cast-iron skillet. Redfish was put on the endangered spicies list due to it popularity.

Fish preparation invented by Chef Paul Prudhomme in 1979 at K-Paul. The fish is seasoned with a custom blend of Cajun spices and cooked at a very hot temperature in a cast-iron skillet. Redfish was put on the endangered spicies list due to it popularity.

A Cajun tradition and communal feast that centers around the slaughter of a pig. Held in fall or winter, before refrigeration. Using everything but the oink, cooks prepared cracklings from the skin, headcheese from the brain, and lard from the fat. Entrails for sausage casings and made sausages such as boudin blanc, boudin rouge, andouille, and tasso. Organs were used to make "debris."

Many recipes but starts with leftover French bread soaked in milk and eggs, then combined with things like nuts, raisins, cinnamon, and nutmeg then baked in the oven. Whiskey sauce or caramel sauce is the traditional topping.

A brown butter sauce, similar to French's beurre noisette. Made by adding demo-glace sauce and cayenne pepper to brown butter, giving a spicy and nutty flavor. Used to top meat and fish dishes.

Coffee made with adding chicory root and served with steamed milk. Became popular during the Civil War and is a Louisiana specialty.

Breakfast fritter like beignets. Fried balls of rice and dough that are eaten with powdered sugar. Word comes from one or more African languages meaning fried cake.

Concentrated sap from the sugarcane plant. Light molasses. Is made from crushing the sugarcane to extract the juice, treating to remove inpurities, and boiling to concentrate it. It is processed to allow the cropping out of sugar crystals. Color varies from light brown brown to almost black. Can be blended from different varieties of cane. Sometimes substituted for maple syrup and molasses in Cajun and Creole preparations.

Root of Belgian endive. When mature it is dried, roasted, and ground. When mixed with coffee it gives nutty flavor. Added to extend life of coffee beans supply by Napoleon's troops and French settlers keep the tradition. It is also added to warm milk and served after dinner to induce sleep. It is added to gravies, soups, and dark breads to add an element of richness and color.

Small pieces of pork skin that are fried, seasoned, and eaten as a snack.

A fresh white cheese, like French fromage blanc. Found only in Louisiana, the beneficial bacteria used to this is indigineous to the region. It is eaten as a snack or served with any meal. Commonly eaten with sugar and strawberries or plain seasoned with salt and pepper.

Locally made mustard from spicy dark mustard seeds that are marinated in vinegar before use. Pungent and similar to horseradish. Frequently used in remoulade and served with ham and po'boy sandwiches.

Locally grown tomato that has very thin skin, a low acidity level, and a very high juice content. Sweet aroma and characteristic taste from region's soil and humid air. In season from June to August. Rarely shipped out of the region. Refrigeration ruins the sweet flavor.

A breakfast of beignets and cafe au lait eaten at any hour of the day. Cafe du Monde in the French Quarter popular for this meal.

Name comes from ground livers and giblets that are added to the rice preparation and results in a dark-colored rice. Typically has diced celery, onions, and peppers.

A brunch dish created at Brennan's. Inspired by Eggs Benedict. Toasted english muffins are topped with sliced Canadian bacon, marchand de vin sauce, poached eggs and cayenne flavored hollandaise. Served with grilled tomatoes.

French meaing smothered or braised. A stew often of crawfish, crab, or shrimp slowly cooked in a thick sauce made with seafood stock, tomatoes, onions, celery, peppers, and seasonings. Served over rice with hot pepper sauce.

Powder made from sassafras leaves that have been dried, ground, and passed through a sieve. It is a thickening agent discovered by the Choctaw tribe. Most commonaly added just before serving to thicken gumbo.

___ also known as the Creole ___ is the most frequently eaten. The legs are considered a delicacy and are broiled, fried, or sauteed.

A lenten dish and traditionally served on Good Friday and breaks traditional recipes. No okra or file used. Roux is made first. Legend says that one makes as many friends as the number of different greens that were put into it.

Traditional spice cake that has been sweetened with cane syrup, topped with icing made from brown sugar, and sprinkled with pecans.

Thinly sliced piece of fresh pork or veal, pean fried and slow cooked with sliced onions, peppers, celery, and tomatoes. Stripped from the animal during boucherie, they were cooked in cast-irons pans over fires and served with grits or rice.

Mire poix style of onions, celery, and pepper.

Spanish dish paella was inspired for this dish. Spanish settlers adapted with local ingredients. Oysters and crawfish replace clams and mussels, and andouille replaces ham. Dish was originally named jambon a la yaya after African word rice, yaya. It has evolved into one of America's most popular rice dishes and is made with pork, chicken, and andouille, or whatever products are available.

Traditionally served during Mardi Gras. It is a brioche ring filled with a mixture of nuts and topped with green, purple, and gold frosting. A small prize is hidden inside and the person who finds it is expected to make a donation to a charity. Tradition dates back to medieval Europe, wher the cake was served on January 6 (12th Night or King's Day) and had gold coins hidden inside. Today the cake is used to select the king and queen of Mardi Gras.

A light green, pear shaped vegetable also called chayote. It came from LA with settlers and slaves from the West Indies. Similar to squash. Available from August through November, Can be prepared using different cooking ways. Sometimes stuffed with bread crumbs and seafood.

Due to limited availibility of turtle meat, the soup is uaully make with calf's head instead. Veal, duck, or beef may replace calf's head.

Cornmeal mush frequently used as a sub for rice. Gumbo was originally served over this before rice became plentiful.

An oblong, tapered pod with rigid green skin. Its seeds were brought to Lousiana by Conglolese slaves in the early 1700's. Slaves called it gombo. When cooked, the seeds produced a glutinous substance that acts as a natural thickener. It can replace file powder as a thickening agent in gumbo.

Originally made in 17th century France with almonds and called amande rissolee dans de sucre, this confection had one or two kinds of nuts coated with butter and carmelized sugar and left to harden into a candy. When the French brought it to Louisiana they substituted the local nuts for the almonds. Typically served in New Orleans area after dinner with a cup of coffee.

Most popular sandiwch in Louisiana. Similar to the hoagie, grinder, submarine, and hero sandwich from other parts of the USA

LA is America's third largest producing state. Southwestern LA grows over 80% of the state's crop. Production began after the Civil War, with farmers switching from sugarcane because it required fewer farmhands. Because of the warm climate and long growing season, fields can be harvested twice a year. Regional preference is medium grain white with high gluten content. Others perfer long grain or extra long grain.

When rice was first brought to LA, farmers planted small crops in places that couldn't be plowed. They just threw rice in standing waters. The reference comes from the saying "it's up to the _____ or the grace of god" to see it harvested.

Long grain rice that is milled in a way that most of the bran layer is left on. The rice is grown only in the parish (country) of New Iberia, LA. It has nothing in common with ____, ____, or _____. It has its own distinctive taste and nutty aroma when cooked.

Traditional Monday meal in New Orleans. Monday was always wash day and the cook could put on a pot of beans on with the leftover ham bone from Sunday's dinner then start on her washing while the beans simmered. Red kidney beans are used and the ham bone is cracked to release the marrow.

A mayonnaise based sauce flavored with Creole mustard, finely diced veg, herbs, and spices that is commonly served with seafood. Each recipe is different to go with whatever it is being served with.

Classic French thickening agent made by combining equal parts of flour and butter and cooking it prior to use. The cooking process gradually changes color. Four names that associate with the varying shades; white, blond, brown, and dark brown. Any type of fat can be used, depending on the the taste and purpose. In Creole cooking, it is typically cooked to the brown and dark brown stages and used to thicken dishes like gumbo and stews. Animals fats such as bacon or duck are sub for the butter. In cajun cooking, veg oil or animal fat is used instead of butter and cooked to a dark caramel color.

Crab, shrimp, crawfish are a common ingredient for these Louisiana events. The seafood is boiled in a deep pot. Bay leaves, allspice, cloves, mustard seed, coriander seeds, dill seeds, pepper, and other herbs and spices are tied in a cheesecloth and added to the pot. These events are typically held outdoors and food is eaten on tabletops lined with newspapers.

It was the first agricultual crop of of any significance grown in Louisiana. A type of perennial grass that grows up to 6 feet. It first came to Louisiana in the mid-1700 from the West Indies. Used primarily to make molasses, white and brown, and syrup.

Discovered in the early 1700's by Dutch explorer Antoine Simon le Page du Pratz. It is not a true yam but has a soft sweet and moist flesh that differs from others in the country, which are dry, mealy, and starchy. Slaves called them nyamis because of its similarity to a vegetable that they knew of from Africa. They adapt well to any cooking techniques.

Spicy hot sauce from from ____ peppers, vinegar, and salt. New Orleans banker Edward Mcilhenny formed this sauce over 130 years ago. The peppers are cured in salt for a year and the remaining juices are mized with vinegar.

A pork sausage seasoned with file powder, garlic, and red pepper. It is cured and smoked for two to three days. Rarely eaten because of its high salt content and smoke flavor but used as a flavoring agent.

These reptiles were abundant until the mid 1990's in the Louisiana region. The meat was commonly sold at stalls in New Orleans' French Quarter. The meat is only available now through farms. Frequently used in soups. The fat from the females are considered a delicacy.