"New Orleans food is as delicious as the less criminal forms of sin." Mark Twain
I recently went to New Orleans for the first time. I enjoyed delicious regional food at Commander's Palace , Cochon and The Court of Two Sisters. I had the best fire oven pizza and hand-cut pasta since Europe at Domenica. I heard great music at Apple Barrel and Spotted Cat and browsed the many art galleries around Julia Street in the Warehouse District. I also did a city tour and saw the remaining devastation from Katrina.
I went to Snug Harbor on Frenchman Street to hear jazz and had their famous black angus burger. I also ordered Louisiana white Gulf shrimp with regional remoulade sauce. The fresh white and brown Gulf shrimp cannot be compared to any other! Many business owners and the seafood fisherman of the southern coast were affected most post Katrina and oil spill. You can buy fresh shrimp, crawfish etc. direct from sources in Louisiana such as Louisiana Crawfish Co.
I stumbled upon a store in the French Quarter called, Kitchen Witch (631 Toulouse Street) that sells rare and vintage cookbooks. What a find! I wanted to take home the best cookbook for Louisiana cookery and the store owner recommended Chef Paul Prudhomme's, Louisiana Kitchen, published in the 1980's. After taking a quick poll of sorts, I also bought some Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning at the open- air French Market.
Creole vs Cajun?
Cajun is French-Canadian, "Acadian" descendants of Southern France who settled in what are today the Maritime Provinces of Canada (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island). When the Acadians got expelled by the British, many settled in French Colony Louisiana. "Cajun Country" is west of New Orleans to Texas border and south along Gulf of Mexico. Cajun food is country style, rustic with Native American influence - Hearty stews, meats preserved by smoking or curing, corn and rice. Classic Cajun dishes are one-pot dishes such as Jambalaya, gumbo, sauce piquante, and crawfish etouffee' (smothered). Cajun style cooking calls for oil and lard to make their dark style roux.
Creole is French/Spanish and other European descendants, city-folk who settled in New Orleans. "Creole" is Spanish for "criollo" - a child born in the colony. Creole dishes are more refined, take longer to prepare reflecting their urban roots and flavors have Native American and African influence from servant cooks who worked in many European households. Like the French, creole cooking calls for butter to make roux.
Both styles use regional ingredients: rice, crab, shrimp, oysters, crawfish, fish, frog, turtle, pork, beans, tomatoes, okra, yams, and pecans. Seasonings used by both cuisines are: parsley flakes, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and white pepper.
Remoulade Sauce
Remoulade sauce is considered creole and the recipe below great with cold shrimp or top your burgers, chicken and fish. It is worth the effort! It's my new "special sauce." This is best prepared a day in advance.
Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen
Makes 1 1/2 Cups
Ingredients
2 fresh egg yolks
1/4 C vegetable oil
1/2 C finely chopped celery
1/2 C finely chopped green onion
1/4 C chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1/4 C prepared horseradish
1/4 C lemon juice and some rind, seeded
1 bay leaf
2 Tablespoons Creole or brown mustard
2 Tablespoons ketchup
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 Tablespoon "prepared" yellow mustard such as Coleman's
1 Tablespoon white vinegar
1 Tablespoon Tabasco sauce
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
2 Tablespoons sweet paprika
1 teaspoon salt
We learned to prepare mayonnaise and tartar sauce in school and this was one of many days I clearly understood the difference the extra effort makes in flavor quality. Hand making with fresh ingredients vs bottle. I remember the day because my arm was sore from whisking! Making these by hand takes time and some practice, hence the reason why most restaurants serve these pre-made from bottles. If you have the time and motivation, there is NO comparison.
In a blender on low or food processor, beat eggs yolks 2 minutes. With machine running, add the oil in thin stream (The French would beat this by hand to omit the heat created by the blender). Add remaining ingredients one at a time until well mixed and lemon rind is finely chopped. Keep in refrigerator. **If you do not want to use raw eggs omit the yolks and oil and replace with 1 cup full fat mayo such as Hellmann's or try grapeseed oil Vegenaise.
The Roosevelt Hotel is infamous for their Sazerac cocktails!
"Hurricanes are for tourists. Sazeracs are for natives."
1/2 teaspoon absinthe, or Herbsaint (a New Orleans brand of anise liqueur)
1 teaspoon of simple syrup (or 1 sugar cube or 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar)
4 dashes Peychaud's bitters
1 small dash, a scant drop, of Angostura bitters (extremely optional; some feel it helps open the flavors, but traditionalists may leave it out).
2 ounces rye whiskey.
Strip of lemon peel
The traditional method: Pack a 3-1/2 ounce Old Fashioned (rocks) glass with ice. In another Old Fashioned glass, moisten the sugar cube with just enough water to saturate it, then crush. Blend with the whiskey and bitters. Add a few cubes of ice and stir to chill. Discard the ice from the first glass and pour in the Herbsaint. Coat the inside of the entire glass, pouring out the excess. Strain the whiskey into the Herbsaint coated glass. Twist the lemon peel over the glass so that the lemon oil cascades into the drink and rub the peel over the rim of the glass - do not put the twist in the drink.
Bonne Chance - Á Votre Santé!
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