From Denny: Can I tell you there were so many network specials on Mardi Gras this year I'm still trying to catch up on their offerings? CBS brought in Marian Cairns from Southern Living Magazine, a favorite read at our house. What I like about this video is Cairns introduces people to Cajun food by explaining the differences among the recipes and properly defines and demonstrates the terms used.
If you have yet to visit New Orleans, this is your chance to familiarize yourself with some of the foods and try making them at home. This kind of comfort food is perfect for the cold weather we are experiencing across the country.
Though Mardi Gras is enjoyed in several places in the world like France and Spain, well, no one is as crazy as we are in New Orleans, Louisiana! Tourists come from all over the world just to experience the wild atmosphere and take in some tummy warming Cajun and Creole good food.
This year the festivities were kicked off early with the Cinderella football team, the New Orleans Saints, winning the Super Bowl. They partied and danced in the French Quarter as soon as the win was announced. The French Quarter is the gathering place for events much like St. Peter's Square is for the citizens of Rome, Italy where they gather.
Normal Mardi Gras is a week of festivities that ends at midnight on Fat Tuesday. Then Ash Wednesday begins the Lenten season of dialing back on the excess and frivolity, exchanging partying for sacrifice and sobriety. South Louisiana is predominantly Catholic while the northern half of the state is Protestant Baptist. New Orleans has clung to its European culture, still celebrating 300 years later after they arrived in the 1700's.
Just know, like here in Louisiana, feel free to substitute when you can't get an ingredient. We use shrimp for etoufee when we it isn't crawfish season. We make chicken and sausage gumbo all year long, even in the heat of summer as it is an economical dish. We make jambalaya like other people make hamburgers: often! :) ...
Check out awesome Louisiana eating: oysters, shrimp, crawfish, gumbo, jambalaya from Louisiana artist Denny Lyon
Marian Cairns New Orleans food tradition tutorial:
Jambalaya: is a one-pot sausage and seafood stew; kind of a jazzed-up Louisiana take on paella.
Jambalaya and
Gumbo are cousins. The difference is that, in jambalaya, the rice is cooked into the recipe and gumbo, which is more like a stew, is served over rice. Jambalaya can be made with or without tomatoes; Cairns' recipe uses tomatoes.
Étoufée is a richer, saucier recipe that starts with the a roux Every Louisiana cook knows first you make a roux. Roux is used to thicken everything - it's the foundation of all of the classic mother sauces, a 50/50 combo of flour and oil or butter. The key is to stir it - it goes from blonde to chocolate, and the darker it gets, the more flavor it imparts it the recipe. Étoufée traditionally includes shrimp, crawfish, lump crab meat, and is served over rice. You can dip your bread in it if you like. (Denny: That's practically a religion around here!)
Sazerac cocktail: Most people think of the Hurricane when they think of Mardi Gras, but in fact, the official drink of New Orleans is the Sazerac. Legend has it that the Sazerac was New Orleans' first cocktail (in fact in 2008, an amendment was passed making it the official cocktail of the city). Classic ingredients are Peychaud's Bitters, Herbsaint (an anise flavored, absinthe substitute), and rye whiskey (which is distilled from rye grain) - it has a rich flavor that's similar to Bourbon (but Bourbon is distilled with AT LEAST 51 percent corn).
And for dessert, Cairns had the traditional
King Cake. There's a little "baby" baked into the cake and, tradition has it, whoever gets the baby is responsible for hosting the party next year. (Denny: I have recipes for King Cake on this blog, just do a search at the top of the page as it's set up to search inside the blog better than other search engines.)
Cajun as opposed to Creole (This often confuses people)
These culinary cousins are all about traditional Louisiana cooking.
Cajun is thought of as more "country" cooking, while
Creole encompasses a more refined "city" food though, today, both borrow from each other and blur the lines into one giant "gumbo pot" that creates our country's richest and most diverse regional cuisine.
Creole traditionally refers to a more sophisticated melding of French, Spanish, African, and Caribbean influences (i.e. crab meat, richer more refined sauces), while
Cajun, which also draws heavily on French and Spanish influences, includes cooking traditions from the rural communities west and south of New Orleans, folks who were, in many cases, living off the land (i.e. crawfish, Tasso ham which is similar to Italian prosciutto).
The beauty is, gumbo, jambalaya, and étoufée, can fall into both categories since, over the years, they all borrowed from one another (i.e. crawfish in the étoufée instead of crab meat; jambalaya with tomatoes is more Creole, while jambalaya without tomatoes is more Cajun.)
Recipes Featured:
Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
Crawfish Etoufee
Jambalaya
Sazerac Cocktail
From Denny: Can I tell you there were so many network specials on Mardi Gras this year I'm still trying to catch up on their offerings? CBS brought in Marian Cairns from Southern Living Magazine, a favorite read at our house. What I like about this video is Cairns introduces people to Cajun food by explaining the differences among the recipes and properly defines and demonstrates the terms used.
