Louisiana Creole cuisine Totally Explained

Everything about Creole Cuisine totally explained

Louisiana Creole cuisine is a style of cooking originating in Louisiana (centered on the Greater New Orleans area) that blends French, Mediterranean, French Caribbean, African, and American influences. It also bears hallmarks of Italian cuisine. It is vaguely similar to Cajun cuisine in ingredients (such as the holy trinity), but the important distinction is that Cajun cuisine arose from the more rustic, provincial French cooking adapted by the Acadians to Louisiana ingredients, whereas the cooking of the Louisiana Creoles tended more toward classical European styles adapted to local foodstuffs. Broadly speaking, the French influence in Cajun cuisine is descended from various French Provincial cuisines of the peasantry, while Creole cuisine evolved in the homes of well-to-do aristocrats, or those who imitated their lifestyle. Although the Creole cuisine is closely identified with New Orleans culture today, much of it evolved in the country plantation estates so beloved of the pre-Civil War Creoles.. (Despite its aristocratic French roots, Creole cuisine doesn't include Gard-Manger or other extremely lavish styles of the Classical Paris cuisine.)
The Spanish influences on Creole cuisine were in the heat of the peppers, the supreme importance of rice and the introduction of beans. The Spanish also used tomatoes extensively, which hadn't been a frequent ingredient in the earlier French era. Pasta and tomato sauces arrived during the period when New Orleans was a popular destination for Italian immigrants (roughly, 1815 to 1925). Many Italians became grocers, bakers, cheese makers and orchard farmers, and so influenced the Creole cuisine in New Orleans and its suburbs. The African influence, which was extensive, came about because nearly all servants were African-American, as were many of the cooks in restaurants and cafes.
The first French and Spanish Creole cookbooks date back to the era before the Louisiana Purchase. The first Creole cookbook in English was La Cuisine Creole: A Collection of Culinary Recipes, From Leading Chefs and Noted Creole Housewives, Who Have Made New Orleans Famous For Its Cuisine, written by Lafcadio Hearn and published in 1885. The full text and page images can be found at Feeding America: The Historic American Cookbook Project.

Starting in the 1980s, Cajun influence became important, spurred by the popular restaurant of Chef Paul Prudhomme. A national interest in Cajun cooking developed, and many tourists went to New Orleans expecting to find Cajun food there (being unaware that the city was culturally and geographically separate from Acadiana), so entrepreneurs opened or rebranded restaurants to meet this demand. The "New New Orleans Cooking" of celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse includes both Cajun and Creole dishes. In his writings and TV shows, Lagasse both draws the distinction between Cajun and Creole and explains where they overlap.
With the rise of Modern American Cooking in the 1980s, a New Creole (or Nouvelle Creole) strain began to emerge. This movement is characterized in part by a renewed emphasis on fresh ingredients and lighter preparations, and in part by an outreach to other culinary traditions, including Cajun, Southern, Southwestern, and to a lesser degree Southeast Asian. While the Cajun food craze eventually passed, Modern Creole has remained as a predominant force in most major New Orleans restaurants.

Classic Creole Dishes

Appetizers

King Cake (usually not served in restaurants, but certainly a New Orleans food)

Doberge cake ("Dobage" is an incorrect spelling.)

Pralines

Pecan Pie

Beverages

Café Brûlot

Café au lait

Hurricane

Ramos Gin Fizz

Sazerac cocktail

Breakfast

Calas

Eggs Sardou

Grillades and Grits

Pain perdu

Famous Creole restaurants in New Orleans

Antoine's

Arnaud's

Brennan's

Commander's Palace

The Court of Two Sisters

Dooky Chase's

Galatoire'sFurther Information

Get more info on 'Creole Cuisine'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://louisiana_creole_cuisine.totallyexplained.com">Louisiana Creole cuisine Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.

Everything about Creole Cuisine totally explained

Classic Creole Dishes

Appetizers

Soups

Main Dishes

Side Dishes

Desserts

Beverages

Breakfast

Famous Creole restaurants in New Orleans