Cajun cuisine

Cajun cuisine originates from the French-speaking Acadian or "Cajun" immigrants in Louisiana, USA. It is what could be called a rustic cuisine — locally available ingredients predominate, and preparation is simple. An authentic Cajun meal is usually a three-pot affair, with one pot dedicated to the main dish, one dedicated to steamed rice, skillet cornbread, or some other grain dish, and the third containing whatever vegetable is plentiful or available.

Cajun ingredients

The following is a partial list of ingredients used in Cajun cuisine and some of the staple ingredients of the Acadian food culture.

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Grains

• Long, medium, or short grain white Rice
• Popcorn rice
• Corn (Maize)
• Wheat (for baking bread)

Fruits and vegetables

• Onion
• Onion Tops (better known as scallions)
• Mirlitons (also called vegetable pears or chayote)
• Blackberries
• Figs
• Celery
• Cucumbers
• Sweet potatoes
• Bell Peppers
• Tomatoes
• Satsuma Oranges
• Pecans
• Lemons
• Cayenne Peppers
• Muscadines
• Strawberries (especially around Ponchatoula)

Meat and seafood

Acadian folkways include many ways of preserving meat, some of which are waning due to the availability of refrigeration and mass-produced meat at the grocer. Smoking of meats remains a fairly common practice, but once-common preparations such as turkey or duck confit (preserved in poultry fat, with spices) are now seen even by Acadians as quaint rarities.

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The traditional pig-slaughtering party, or 'boucherie', where people would gather to socialize, play music, dance, and preserve meat does still occur in some rural communities, but the exploitation of every last bit of meat, including organs and variety cuts in sausages such as 'boudin' and the inaccessible bits in the head as head cheese is no longer a necessity.

Related Topics:
Boudin - Head cheese

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Game (and hunting) are still uniformly popular in Acadiana.

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The recent increase of catfish farming in the Mississippi Delta has brought about an increase in its usage in Cajun cuisine in the place of the more traditional wild-caught trout and redfish.

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Seafood

• Freshwater
• Catfish
• Trout
• Bass
• Saltwater or brackish water species
• Redfish
• Pompano
• Drumfish
• Flounder
• Grouper
• Perch - Many varieties
• Snapper - Many varieties
• Shellfish
• Crawfish- usually farm-raised
• Shrimp
• Oysters
• Blue Crab

Also included in the seafood mix are some so-called "trash fish" that would not sell at market because of their high bone to meat ratio or required complicated cooking methods. These were brought home by fishermen to feed the family. Examples are garfish, gaspergou, croaker, and bream.

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Poultry

• Farm Raised
• Turkey
• Turkey confit
• Turducken (deboned turkey stuffed with deboned duck stuffed with deboned chicken)
• Chicken
• Guinea Hen
• Game birds
• Dove
• Goose
• Quail
• Duck
• Duck confit

Pork

• Pork Sausages and products
• Andouille - a spicy dry smoked sausage
• Boudin - a fresh sausage made with green onions, pork, and rice. Pig's blood is sometimes added to produce "boudin noir".
• Fresh pork sausage - not smoked or cured, but highly seasoned. Mostly used in gumbos. The sausage itself does not include rice, separating it from boudin.
• Chaurice, similar to the Spanish chorizo
• Tasso - a highly seasoned, smoked pork shoulder
• Head cheese

Beef and dairy

Though parts of Acadiana are well suited to cattle or dairy farming, beef is not often used in a pre-processed or uniquely Cajun form. It is usually prepared fairly simply as chops, stews, or steaks, taking a cue from Texas to the west. Ground beef is used as is traditional throughout the southern US, although seasoned differently.

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Dairy farming is not as prevalent as in the past, but there are still some farms in the business. There are no unique dairy items prepared in Cajun cuisine. Traditional southern US and New Orleans influenced desserts are common.

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Other

• Turtle (farm-raised)
• Alligator
• Rabbit
• Nutria

Seasonings

"Cajun spice" blends such as Tony Chachere's are sometimes used in Acadian kitchens, but they tend to be avoided because they do not suit the cook's style, and because Cajun-style seasoning is simply achieved from scratch, even by taste. Seafood boils such as Zatarain's Shrimp and Crab Boil are, on the other hand, in common use. Whole peppers are almost never used in authentic Cajun dishes--ground Cayenne, paprika, and pepper sauces predominate.

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• Flat leaf Parsley
• Celery
• Bay leaf
• Cayenne pepper
• Pepper sauce
• Black pepper
• Seafood boil

Other

• Sugar cane
• Cane syrup
• Dark roux: The Acadians inherited the roux from the French. However, unlike the French, it is made with oil or bacon fat, and not butter, and it is used a flavoring, especially in gumbo and etoufée. Preparation of a dark roux is probably the most involved or complicated procedure in Cajun cuisine, involving heating fat and flour very carefully, constantly stirring for about 15-45 minutes (depending on the color of the desired product), until the mixture has darkened in color and developed a nutty flavor. A burnt roux renders a dish unpalatable.
• Stocks: Acadian stocks are more heavily seasoned than Continental counterparts, and the shellfish stock sometimes made with shrimp and crawfish heads is unique to Cajun cuisine.
• Fish stock and Courtboullion
• Shellfish stock
• Chicken stock