Louisiana Creole cuisine

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Dishes typical of Creole food

Louisiana Creole cuisine is a style of cooking originating in Louisiana (centered on the Greater New Orleans area) that blends French, Spanish, 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.

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 came 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 supply this demand.

With the rise Modern American Cooking in the 1980s, a New Creole (or Neuvelle Creole) strain began to emerge. This movement is characterized in part by a renewed emphasis on fresh ingrediants 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

• Crabmeat Ravigote
• Oysters Bienville
• Oysters en Brochette
• Oysters Rockefeller
• Shrimp Remoulade

Soups

• Crawfish Bisque
• Gumbo
• Oyster and Artichoke Bisque
• Turtle Soup

Main Dishes

• Crawfish Etouffee
• Jambalaya
• Shrimp Alfredaux
• Crawfish Fettuccini
• Pompano en Papillote
• Red Beans and Rice
• Shrimp Creole
• Trout Meuniere Amandine

Desserts

• Bananas Foster
• Bread Pudding
• Beignets
• King Cake (usually not served in restaurants, but certainly a New Orleans food)
• Dobage Cake
• Pralines
• Pecan Pie

Beverages

• Café Brûlot
• Café au lait
• Hurricane
• Ramos Gin Fizz
• Sazerac

Breakfast

• Calas
• Eggs Sardou
• Grillades and Grits
• Pain perdu

Famous Creole restaurants in New Orleans

• Antoine's
• Arnaud's
• Brennan's
• Commander's Palace
• Dooky Chase's
• Galatoire's

See also

• Cuisine of the United States
• Southern U.S. cuisine
• Cooking
• Cuisine

External links

• [The creole cuisine of Austin Leslie from the late Pampy's Creole Kitchen in New Orleans is preserved in this eGullet pictorial from July of 2005.]

 

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