People in France eat snails, people in Russia eat fish eggs. People in China eat bird nests. People in Louisiana also eat different things - like crawfish, crabs, turtles, and alligators.
What Louisiana cooks do to these "creatures" is what brings thousands of people to our state to get a sampling of the tastiest food in the whole world.
Louisiana owes its international reputation for unique dishes to the Gulf of Mexico, the state's numerous waterways, its thousands of acres of wetlands, its warm climate for cultivating crops, and its many different groups of people. Early inhabitants of the coastal areas of Louisiana soon learned to take advantage of the large supply of seafood that could be prepared in so many delicious ways. Settlers came from France, Spain, Africa, Italy, Germany, Ireland, West Indies Islands and England. Each nationality added something of its own culture to make Louisiana's cooking special. What is the difference between Cajun and Creole cooking? Today it is hard to tell the difference between the two. France's food legacy consisted mainly of the rich sauces and wine-flavored dishes that continue to characterize New Orleans Creole cooking. The Spanish brought green peppers; West Indies Islanders brought hot pepper and spices; pasta came with the Italians; and, immigrants from Germany contributed sauerkraut and sausages. African cooks are credited with introducing many of the seasonings that have so enhanced the taste of Louisiana seafood and meat dishes. The various combinations of onions, garlic, parsley, bay leaves, sweet basil, thyme, sage, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg give distinctive flavors to cooked food. Africans also introduced okra, an ingredient of gumbo. Slow, one-pot cooking used by African slaves, brought out the flavor of many spices to make gumbo, jambalaya, and stews. The Ursuline nuns in New Orleans were known for their herbs and spices.
Louisiana's first European settlers also learned about new foods from the Indians, who were here when they arrived. The Indians taught them how to cultivate corn, beans, and squash. Cooks in north Louisiana learned to combine corn with Lima beans to make succotash; south Louisianians mixed fresh corn kernels with tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers to create maquechou, or corn soup. Boiled or roasted corn-on-the-cob became a favorite summer vegetable. By-products of corn are hominy, grits, and cornmeal, the main ingredient of cornbread, corn fritters, and "hush puppies."
Vegetable dinners were and still are popular in Louisiana. Because of the warm climate, we are used to eating delicious home-grown corn, summer squash, green beans and new potatoes, and sliced tomatoes almost all year. All types of peas and beans are enjoyed in Louisiana. Green-leafy vegetables, turnip greens, mustard greens, collards, and poke salad are on many tables throughout Louisiana. The green leafy vegetables may taste bitter to children. To encourage children to eat these greens, many parents would mash up cornbread in a cup and pour some of the "pot liquor" from the greens. Pot liquor is the water in which the vegetables are cooked. The pot liquor is rich in vitamins.
The southern part of Louisiana, settled mainly by the Creoles and the exiled Acadians, is noted for its spicy foods -- gumbo, sauce piquante, jambalaya, boudin, and peppery seafood and meat dishes.
Louisiana's Cajuns, out of necessity, learned to make use of whatever foodstuffs were available. Cajun settlers were the first to grow rice, which was to become one of the mainstays of the state's economy. They used the cooked grain to supplement gumbo, fish and meat dishes, and for making jambalaya and boudin , favorite foods of the Cajun people. In south Louisiana, rice dressing (called dirty rice by Cajuns) is often used as the dressing at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
North Louisianians tend to eat cornbread dressing. People in south Louisiana also enjoy cornbread dressing, but add meat or oysters.
Images and sounds courtesy of our friends at Louisiana Public Broadcasting. See www.lpb.org.