updated on Sep 16, 2008   the recipes: table of contents what's new? the gumbo pages who, me? looka! This page is dedicated to the memory of Jamie Shannon (1961-2001) Executive Chef, Commander's Palace, New Orleans, La. from 1990 to 2001 Search this site: Enter the name of a dish or an ingredient. Enter your search terms Web www.gumbopages.com Submit search form GUMBOBAMA! The Gumbo Pages' Fundraising Drive for Barack Obama's Campaign Contribute here! Graphic updated every 5 minutes "New Orleans food is as delicious as the less criminal forms of sin." -- Mark Twain, 1884 by Chuck Taggart (email), Native New Orleanian, and damn good cook (albeit a modest one, of course) Bienvenue à vous-autres! Welcome to the Creole and Cajun Recipe Page! Here we celebrate the marvelous Creole cuisine of New Orleans, and the hearty cooking of Acadiana (or "Cajun country"). You'll also find some culinary basics -- stocks, sauces, seasonings, and the like -- as well as a few tastes of many other regional and world cuisines. Beware, all ye who enter here -- Louisiana (and especially New Orleans) has, in my not-so-humble opinion, the best cuisine in the world. However, it isn't always what you'd call healthy ("It ain't da seafood dat makes ya fat ... it's da batta!"), and some of the dishes are probably not for people obsessed with watching their intake of fat. But dawlin' ... talk about good! However, several of the dishes within these pages are indeed pretty good for you, and with some creative substitutions you can make them much more healthy. Use your imagination, but don't declare war on butter and cream; just enjoy them occasionlly, and in moderation. Before you ask the inevitable question, "What's the difference between Creole and Cajun?" ... find the answer and more by reading this introduction to the joys of Cajun and Creole cuisine by food writer Malcolm Hébert. One of our finest chefs, Chef John Folse, also writes about the history and evolution of Creole and Cajun cuisine. You may also wish to read my take on the infamous, so-called Cajun food craze of the mid-1980s. Before you begin Know Your Ingredients.  Creole and Cajun cooking uses certain specific ingredients and techniques with which you might want to familiarize yourself. Find out what they are here -- how to make them, where to get them, or how to substitute for them. Mail-order Sources.  If you're living outside Louisiana, you might need to know where to get some of your ingredients -- here are a few places who can get you what you need. Metric and Celsius Measurements and Temperature Equivalents! Okay, for all you non-Americans, we finally added this. Yeah, I know, it's about time ... Use the Search Engine.  Before you write to me and ask me if I have a recipe for this or that, please just use the yellow search box at the top of this page or the above link to look for it yourself on this site. If it doesn't come up in the search, then I don't have it. Thanks for helping. The Creole and Cajun Recipe Page: Table of Contents The Basics Before you dive in, you've got a little bit of prep work to do. in this section you'll find a couple of things you should always have on hand -- Creole seasoning blend (a basic mixture of seasonings upon which to build your dishes) and homemade stocks (make then and keep them in the freezer; you must do this!). Then you can start with the four essential New Orleans dishes: Red Beans 'n Rice, Jambalaya, Gumbo and Shrimp Creole   Stocks I re-emphasize ... good stock is the key to great dishes. Make your own. Forget cans and bouillion (ugh). Sauces The Mother Sauces, some popular Louisiana sauces, and more. Sausages and seasoning meats Andouille, tasso, chaurice, Creole hot sausage and more. Appetizers and salads Some of New Orleans' best and most famous dishes are starters. Gumbos, soups and bisques "Soup" is the understatement of the century. Gumbo is the Rolls-Royce of soups, and many of New Orleans' soups, gumbos and bisques are works of art. Seafood dishes Why we're famous for our seafood. Poultry dishes And you thought chicken was boring. Not the way we make it. From elegant haute Creole to rustic one-pot dishes to a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken. Meat and Game dishes Beef, pork, veal, rabbit, venison. From the simple to the decadent. Vegetables, Side Dishes and Vegetarian Dishes Gotta eat your veggies. And your dirty rice too! Plus a new and growing section for our vegetarian friends. Sandwiches New Orleans' quintessential sandwiches, from po-boys to muffulettas and beyond. NEW! Muffuletta olive salad recipe! Breads and Breakfast Breakfast and brunch in New Orleans ... mmmmmm. It's a wonderful and delicious local tradition back home ... start one yourself where you live. Dessert! Listen to me. Do not think about calories or fat ... just eat it! Beverages and Cocktails Have some cocktails before dinner (especialy a Sazerac, New Orleans' finest), then learn the proper way to make iced tea, and finish your meal with the best coffee in the world. Pickles You'll want those pickled onions for your red beans, and those pickled okra spears for your Bloody Marys. Condiments The rest, from condiments to salsas to preserves A Culinary World Tour Recipes from many world and regional cuisines. Culinary Resources on the Web Lots of interesting food- and drink-related sites. Louisiana Chefs, Restaurants and Cooking Schools on the Web Links to heroes, role models, teachers and future colleagues. The Gumbo Pages' Bookshop Chuck's recommended cookbooks -- Creole, Cajun and beyond. Available for purchase here, in conjunction with Amazon.com Books. Festival Tours International's New Orleans Jazzfest & Cajun Country Tour Experience New Orleans and Acadiana like a native with this terrific tour (where you won't feel like you're on a tour). Hear music at two great festivals, eat lots of fantastic Creole and Cajun food, dance it all off, and attend the party of the year at a private crawfish boil chez Savoy in Eunice, Louisiana ... more fun than humans should be allowed to have! It's all happening April 28 - May 5, 2006, so check it out!   I did, and had a blast. Plus a special bonus ... "The Crawfish-Sea Urchin Tale" Where one day in 1985 Louisianian and Japanese culinary traditions crashed head-on, and there were no survivors. Now fully illustrated with photos! "Uncle Manny's Flanny Steak Vegetables" A "recipe"/short story by William McKenzie Neal. The Creole and Cajun Recipe page is a subset of The Gumbo Pages, a massive and wonderful musical, cultural and culinary World Wide Web site concentrating on New Orleans, southern Louisiana, Acadiana ("Cajun country"), roots music and the wide world of non-commercial radio. Check it out! This Web site is a work-in-progress (aren't they all?), and I welcome contributions. Also, if you cooked something that you learned from here, particularly my own recipes, I'd like to hear about it! Special thanks to recipe contributors Sim Aberson, Arne Adolfsen, Bob Beer, Greg Beron, Ed Branley, Georges Collinet, Chef John Eddy, Nick Fitch, Chef John Folse, George Gerhold, Vasily Gladkikh, Mrs. Zenaida Gladkikh, Rich Hawkins, Christopher Hébert, Malcolm Hébert, Mrs. Dot Luquet, Susan Martinez, Peter Ostroushko, Louis Poché, Don Reid, Marc Savoy, Sarah Savoy, Mrs. Pat Taggart, Maurice Tate and Mrs. Nettie Zeringue. Recipe page logo by Sean Burke.   In memoriam: Chef John Neal of Peristyle Restaurant, New Orleans, Chef Tom Cowman of Upperline Restaurant, New Orleans, and sommelier Howard Arthur Faye, Los Angeles, who passed away in 1995; Chef Pierre Franey, who passed in 1996; Chef Gary Holleman, who left us in 1997; and Chef Patrick Clark of Tavern on the Green, who passed in 1998.   This site was (mostly) written, edited and designed by, and is maintained by Chuck Taggart   (email)     the gumbo pages | the new orleans page search this site | email chuck visit pair Networks, our webhost     "STORE HOURS: OPEN most days about 9 or 10, occasionally as early as 7. But SOMEDAYS as late as 12 or 1. WE CLOSE about 5:30 or 6, occasionally about 4 or 5, but sometimes as late as 11 or 12. SOMEDAYS or afternoons we aren't here at all, and lately I've been here just about all the time, except when I'm someplace else. -- Bobby D." -- Sign outside Daigle's neighborhood grocery store, Algiers Point, New Orleans

 
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