Cajun and Creole are often misunderstood if you are not from the region. Both of these words describe recipes and cooking styles from Louisiana. Creole is often described as using a more traditional approach to the recipe while Cajun is used more broadly as food that it particularly spicy. Cajun cooking is generally known to be more spicy or peppery. Both styles are unique and offer a large variety of choices.
Cajun Cooking Basics
Cajun cooking really exploded in the 1980′s. When people hear the words Cajun cooking, they often think of blackened chicken. Even though this is strongly associated with Cajun cooking it’s not what many Cajuns consider traditional.
Cajuns are an ethnic group that is found in Louisiana. Cajuns settled there after leaving Canada in exile. Cajuns can trace their roots to the Acadian people, a group of people from France that settled in Canada. They speak in a very distinct French dialect. After they were exiled from Canada, the Cajuns brought their culture and traditions to the United States. Theses traditions, including Cajun cooking, remain active today.
There are many traditional recipes that have been passed down for generations. They proudly guard their recipes and their heritage. This is the type of cooking that does not rely heavily on exact measurements. You find a lot of “a handful of this” and a “little bit of that” in the recipes.
The Cajun cooking style uses many spices, fat, butter and garlic. Probably not the healthiest recipes in the world, but boy they do taste good.
Ideas for Cajun cooking
Due to its origin in the Louisiana many of the Cajun cooking recipes involve local seafood. There are many recipes that use ingredients such as onions, mayonnaise, mustard, butter, lemon juice, and of course a lot of spices. These ingredients are combined and then poured on the catfish and baked. Shrimp is commonly used, but so is alligator and crawfish. These Cajun cooking selections make for an authentic choice when attempting to create a Cajun style feast. If you need some recipe ideas there are a lot of Cajun cooking books available that can help you make this style of food.
A wide variety of spices are used in Cajun cooking to build a depth of flavor. Using pepper, parsley flakes, garlic powder, hot pepper, curry powder, and people can make their own Cajun spices at home. Its fun to experiment with different spices to create your own unique Cajun spice combinations.
Cajun cooking is a fun and creative form of the culinary arts. Making your own style of Cajun spices to be used on everything from French fries to chicken, will add a new taste and texture to all your meals.
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