CAJUN & CREOLE
Louisiana, the Mississippi and Alabama Gulf coasts,
the western Florida panhandle
extreme eastern Texas
THE LAND THE RIVER BUILT
Southern Louisiana was created by the Mississippi Rivercarrying rich alluvial soil from its huge, funnel-shapedwatershed and depositing it where the river meets the Gulfof Mexico.
THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA
The southern Louisiana landform is roughly triangular in shape and, thus, is called a delta.
Rich delta soil and a mild climate makes southern Louisiana suited for sub-tropical food plants.
LOUISIANA WETLANDS
The Mississippi delta is low-lying land comprising saltwatermarshes and slow-moving, meandering waterways calledbayous. Louisiana’s wetlands and the Gulf of Mexicosupport a wide variety of fish, shellfish, and amphibians,the region’s foundation protein foods.
CENTRAL AND NORTHERN LOUISIANA
Before European settlement, the land north of Shreveport was prairie, supporting bison and other wildlife. Today this area is cultivated in grains and other large-scale agriculture food crops.
DELTA TRIBES:Chitimachas and Houmas
• expert watermen
• hunting (esp. waterfowl)
• fishing for delta seafood
• foraged foods (sassafras leaves, or filé)
• Three Sisters farming
INLAND TRIBES:
Natchez, Choctaws, Caddos
• plains-style hunting (esp. bison)
• Three Sisters farming
• Natchez had highly developed civilization
LOUISIANA NATIVE AMERICANS
FRENCH SETTLEMENT
• first French settlement in 1699 at Mobile, Alabama
• French settlers combined European colonial domesticates with indigenous native foods
• Louisiana colony extended east into Florida panhandle and west across Mississippi and Louisiana into Texas
NEW ORLEANS• New Orleans was founded in
1718 as port city, gateway to the Mississippi and, thus, the entire American heartland.
• Because of New Orleans commerce, Louisiana gained economic viability early in its history.
• Much of New Orleans is below sea level, protected from water by levees.
TRADITIONAL LOUISIANA CUISINE
Due to rapid settlement and almost instant economic viability, Louisiana did not have a colonial cuisine period, instead developing a mature cuisine within a few generations of founding.
THE SEVEN ROOTS OF LOUISIANA CUISINE
IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE#1 France
#2 Africa
#3 America (Native American and Plantation South)
#4 The Caribbean#5 Italy#6 Spain#7 Germany
THE FRENCH FOUNDATION
Louisiana food is fundamentally French food.• The region’s first settlers were French, arriving from France and the French
Caribbean.
• Later, French-Canadian Acadians brought additional French influence.
All French settlers had a strong food culture.The French are typically culinary conservatives (not venturing away from their cooking
methods etc.), adventurous emigrants were culinary liberals.
THE FRENCH FOUNDATION
• French mirepoix becomes the holy trinity: a mixture of celery, green bell peppers, and fresh onions
• Three domains of fat:butter (clarified and raw)
olive oil (for salad dressings)lard (for frying and roux)
• roux of many colors(discussed shortly)
• Cast-iron cookingslow, steady heat for roux
gives fried foods a crunchy crust
imparts a special flavor
• Cooking with wineused in sauces, soups, desserts
• French bread served hotin humid climate bread is reheated for crispness
• Fondness for seafoodFrench settlers considered indigenous fish and shellfish high status foods
• Colonial Domesticates from FranceKnob onions or fFesh onions
Chard
Turnip greens
Salad greens
Eggplants
Artichokes
Poultry
Hogs
THE FRENCH FOUNDATION
NATIVE AMERICAN INFLUENCE
• Native methods for indigenous seafoodalligator
frogs
crawfish
• Three Sisters foods
• Filé powder: ground, dried sassafras leaves used to thicken and flavor filé gumbos
SASSAFRAS
• The root or bark was used to make tea and Root Beer.
• Root Beer was originally made with the bark and root of the Sassafras trees. This is what give Root Beer it’s unique taste and smell.
• Root beer “mise en place”
Tens of thousands ofAfrican-heritage slaves were
brought to Louisiana fromthe Caribbean, the
Plantation South, anddirectly from Africa. They
contributed essential ingredients,methods, techniques, and flavor
preferences to Louisiana cuisine.These, as well as a large
population of free blacks createdLouisiana Creole cuisine andcontributed to Cajun cuisine.
• Rice culture and cuisine
• Okra (means gumbo in some African dialects.)
Thickens okra gumbo
Fried
Pickled
• Moussa and Coush-Coushcornmeal mush, savory and sweetened
• Fried foods
• Strong seasonings and inventive combinations
THE AFRICAN ELEMENT
Planters and their slaves from the Carolinas migrated to
Louisiana in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
After the Civil War, many white farmers moved to inland
Louisiana.
• Gumbo (from the Low-country)
• Fried chicken and fish
• Vegetables cooked with seasoning meats
• Barbeque
• Neckbone stew
• Slow-simmered beans
FOODS FROM THE PLANTATION SOUTH
In response to depleted soil and declining sugar prices, many French planters from the Caribbean moved their
operations to Louisiana.
African-Caribbean slave cooks brought their methods and
techniques.
• Rum
• Molasses
• Sugar, caramel
• Tropical fruitspineapples, bananas, coconuts
• Tropical vegetablesmirlitons, sweet potatoes, chiles
CARIBBEAN INGREDIENTS
In the early 1700s German farmers settled inland
Louisiana. They produced dairy products, meats, and
much-needed wheat for bread flour and beer
making.
However, German cooking did not become popular or alter
the cuisine.
• Wheat breads
• Sausages and preserved pork products
• Beer
GERMAN SETTLERS
Louisiana belonged to Spain from 1762 to 1802.
Spanish ingredients enriched the cuisine.
• Tomatoes and tomato sauce
• Eggplants
• Bell peppers
• Paprika
• Paella-rice casseroles became jambalaya
SPANISH RULE
AMERICAN LOUISIANA
• When Louisiana became part the United States in 1803 (Louisiana Purchase- Jefferson) the region welcomed an influx of American settlers.
• Increased prosperity enriched the cuisine until the Civil War.
• Whereas much of the region was devastated, New Orleans retained its economic viability and the cuisine prospered.
In the late1800s Italian immigrants
added the finishing touch to an
already complex cuisine.
• Parmesan cheese
• Anchovies
• Italian-style cured meats
• thick, spicy tomato sauce
• Pasta dishes
• stuffed vegetablespirogues
• Sandwichespo’ boys
muffalettas
ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS
THE DEVELOPMENT OF LOUISIANA CUISINE
TWO STYLES OF LOUISIANA COOKING
CREOLE CUISINE CAJUN CUISINE
CREOLE CUISINE
In Louisiana, a Creole was a person of European heritage born in the New World. Later
the term was extended to include persons of mixed
European-African heritage.
Louisiana Creoles created a complex and sophisticated
cuisine.
CREOLE CUISINE
SOPHISTICATED CITY COOKING
• Ingredients from around the world
• Multi-course dining
• Skilled home cooking and restaurant cuisine
• European beverages: table wines, dessert wines, cordials
• Much attention to presentation
• Classic French sauces
CREOLE CUISINEGUMBO
Is not quite a stew (more liquids than solids)…but not always a soup (large pieces of food requiring knife and fork).
Gumbo means “okra” in some African dialects.
African slaves created gumbo in the Carolina Lowcountry and brought it to Louisiana.
CREOLE CUISINE
AUTHENTIC GUMBO• Always includes:
• Brown roux (meat and poultry lighter; seafood darker)
• Holy Trinity vegetables
• Mixed main ingredients
(often combines poultry, meats, and seafood)• And is served with a scoop of steamed white rice.
OKRA GUMBO
• Earliest version
• Sliced okra added near the end of cooking helps thicken the sauce
FILÉ GUMBO
When okra was not available, Creolecooks used indigenous ground,dried sassafras leaves to thickengumbos.
• Filé must be added off the heat at the end of cooking; often served separately
• Filé and okra are never used together
CREOLE CUISINE
ETOUFFÉmeans “smothered”fish, shellfish, poultry or pork cookedin a thick, brown-roux gravy (notomatoes)
COURTBOUILLON (not court-bouillon)fish or crawfish simmered in a thick,wine-based, brown-roux sauce withtomatoes
RED BEANS & RICELouisiana dried red beans simmeredwith seasoning meat and served overrice, often with Andouille sausage or apork chop
CREOLEshrimp or other seafood cooked in alight, brown-roux tomato sauce withpeppers, onions, and ham
PIQUANTEmeans “spicy-hot”seafood or chicken cooked in aCreole sauce spiked with bottled hotsauce and/or green chiles
JAMBALAYAjambon à la ya means “ham in the style of rice” a braised rice dish that includes ham,sausage or bacon and seafood orpoultry
CREOLE CUISINE
LOUISIANA BROWN ROUX
Color, thickening power determined by length of cooking time.
Category 1: peanut butter brown (Blonde)
Category 2: sticky bun brown (Light Brown)
Category 3: fudge brownie brown (Dark Brown)
Category 4: black coffee brown (Black)
CAJUN CUISINE
In the mid-1700s, French Acadians deported from
English Canada found a home in the Louisiana bayou
country.
Cajun is a shortened form of “Acadian,” said with a
Southern drawl.
Cajuns developed a thrifty, rustic, home-style cuisine based on French country cooking and
indigenous foods.
COUNTRY COOKINGUntil recently, most Cajuns lived on
Isolated small farms, using little more
than home-raised meats and
vegetables and hunted, fished, and
foraged foods. DISHES THAT “STRETCH”
Cajun families are large and
unexpected visitors frequent. Most
dishes have lots of sauce or gravy
and are served over a starch, feeding
many mouths.
FLAVOR-BUILDING TECHNIQUES
“Browned” is a signature flavor,using caramelization and Maillardreaction.
Flavor Layering: The same basic ingredient is used in two or more forms.
Ingredient Staging: The same ingredient is added at different times during cooking process
CAJUN CUISINE
CHARCUTERIEBoucherie: hog-processing party, at
which hams, sausages, lard, and other pork products are made
Cajun charcuterie is spicier than the French or Acadian versions.
SWAMP CRITTERSHunting and foraging in the
wetlands is an important source of food.
• Wildfowl
• Cooter (turtle)
• Frog legs
• alligator
• Crawfish
CAJUN CUISINE
CAJUN CUISINE
Cajun cooking was fundamentally home cooking until popularized in the 1980s.
Cajun restaurants debuted new dishes that have become part of the cuisine:
• “Blackened” redfish and other foods
• Cajun popcorn (breaded, fried crawfish tails)
• ‘Gator-on-a-stick
CREOLE VS. CAJUNCreole VS. Cajun
DEVELOPMENT OF LOUISIANA CUISINE
COMPLEX COOKINGMultiple seasonings
One or more sauces
Multiple side dishes
Garnishes
INDIVIDUALISMMany variations of classic dishes
SHOWCASING SEAFOOD• Gulf oysters
• Gulf shrimp
• Blue crabs (hard and soft)
• Alligator meat
• Crawfish
• Gulf and swamp finfishPompanoWeakfishMackerelTunaSwordfishRed drum (redfish)Catfish
CHARACTERISTICS OF LOUISIANA CUISINE
New Orleans is a great restaurant town and is well known for its
food stalls and markets.
New Orleans nightlife is legendary.
• Café au lait(chicory-laced coffee with hot milk)
• Beignets(French doughnuts)
• Po’ boys(hollowed baguette filled with fried seafood, Italian cold cuts, meatballs, etc.)
• Muffaletta(round loaf filled with Italian cold cuts and olive salad)
NEW ORLEANS FOOD CULTURE AND CUISINE
MARDI GRAS
Mardi Gras means “fat Tuesday,” the last day of the Carnival season that precedes Lent.
Louisianans observe Carnival with a series of parties, including festive dinners.
King’s Cake is the traditional Mardi Gras dessert.
New Orleans restaurants proved remarkably resilient, making a faster recovery than predicted.
Hispanics have entered the city’s restaurant workforce, adding yet another layer to the complexity of Louisiana cuisine.
Asian immigrants are a major force in the region’s fishing industry.
Vietnamese cuisine is blending with Louisiana cuisine in unexpected ways.
The region awaits full recovery of its fishing and tourism sectors.
THE FUTURE OF LOUISIANA CUISINE
APPETIZERSCrawfish BisqueGumbo z’HerbesCreole Shrimp RemouladeFrog Legs Sauce PiquanteCreole “Barbeque” ShrimpCajun PopcornOysters RockefellerShrimp and Tasso-Stuffed MirlitonCajun Boudin Blanc
DESSERTSBananas FosterChocolate Voodoo TorteKing’s CakeGâteau de SiropCreole Bread Pudding
ENTRÈESPompano en AppellateRed Snapper CourtbouillonBlackened RedfishShrimp CreoleDuck, Andouille Sausage, and ‘Gator Filé
GumboShrimp and Crab Okra GumboCrawfish ÈtoufféeChicken, Shrimp, and Oyster Filé GumboCreole JambalayaPecan-Crusted Suprême of ChickenRed Beans ‘n’ RicePork Backbone Stew
LOUISIANA RECIPES