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New Orleans Cuisine
New Orleans is one of the few cities in the United States that can justify a visit solely for cooking and cuisine. Thanks to influence from French, Spanish, Italian, West Indian and Native American cuisines, New Orleans food is so diverse and has so many exciting culinary combinations, that it may take a lot of time to try all the specialities of New Orleans restaurants.
Many of the famous dishes of New Orleans food started out as provincial French recipes brought to New Orleans by early settlers. From Native Americans they took native herbs and filé (ground sassafras leaves). Saffron and peppers came from Spaniards. From the West Indies New Orleans food took spices, new vegetables, and sugar cane. During years of slavery, when black women cooked in the kitchens of slave owners, an African note was added to New Orleans food. That was the way how unique culinary style of New Orleans appeared.
In practice, there are two cuisines in New Orleans, Cajun and Creole, but they are so close related that it's often difficult to distinguish between them. Creole cuisine is a culinary style, blending European, Caribean, and African influences; it was developed by French and Spanish settlers, and features delicate cream and butter sauces.
Cajun cooking came from Acadiana, a region of coastal prairie in southwestern Louisiana. Acadians, or Cajuns, left France for Nova Scotia in the 1600s and, after being expelled from Canada by British in the 1700s, settled in Louisiana. Cajun cuisine traditionally has centered mostly on pork, poultry, fish, shellfish, and game.
New Orleans food
Many of the foods in New Orleans are unique to the region and may be unfamiliar to first-time visitors. The following list of the most typical New Orleans food will help you to explore New Orleans restaurants.
Andouille - a spicy Cajun sausage made with pork.
Boudin - a type of sausage containing onion, spices, pork, and rice.
Café brûlot - Coffee mixed with spices and liqueurs and served flaming.
Crawfish - a tiny, lobsterlike creature.
Eggs hussarde - poached eggs with hollandaise, marchand de vin sauce, tomatoes, and ham. Marchand de vin is a wine sauce flavored with onions, shallots, celery, carrots, garlic, red wine, beef broth, and herbs.
Eggs Sardou - poached eggs, artichoke bottoms, anchovy filets, hollandaise, and truffles or ham as a garnish.
Étouffée - a Cajun stew served with rice.
Grillades - slices of beef or veal smothered in a tomato-and-beef-flavored gravy, often served with grits.
Gumbo - a thick, spicy soup always served with rice and usually containing crab, shrimp, sometimes oysters, and okra in a roux base.
Jambalaya - a jumble of yellow rice, sausage, seafood, vegetables, and spices.
Muffuletta - sandwich made with Italian sausage, deli meats, one or two kinds of cheese, olive salad (pickled olives, celery, carrots, cauliflower, and capers), and oil and vinegar, piled onto a round loaf (about 8 inches in diameter) of Italian bread made specially for these incredible sandwiches.
Pain perdu - a toast, made with French bread (available with a large variety of toppings).
Pralines - a very sweet confection made of brown sugar and pecans; they come in "original" and creamy styles.
Rémoulade - a spicy sauce, usually over shrimp; a mixture of mayonnaise, boiled egg yolks, horseradish, Creole mustard, and lemon juice.