To begin, I think it is important to mention that New Orleans Cuisine is a rich mixture of various cultures. As we've discussed in class, it's principally a mixture of: African, Mediterranean, French and Spanish foods. I put African first because I can't think of a single dinner meal that is eaten without Africa's main contribution, rice. Besides rice, Creole cuisine also borrowed peppers and beans from Africa. So, for this reason, things like Red Beans and Rice are central to New Orleans cuisine.
Next, I'd like to briefly mention some of my favorite meals. I must say that I love seafood. All sorts of it. Crabs, Crawfish, Oyster (even raw), Shrimp, etc. Some of my favorite foods are Gumbo, Crawfish Bisque, Crawfish Étouffée, Jambalaya, 'Dirty Rice' (don't let the name fool you, it's quite delicious), Red Beans, Shrimp Creole, etc. Wow, just writing all these foods make me sooo hungry. Also, for dinner, it's very 'Creole' to eat shrimp, crawfish, fish, etc. with some good ol' grits! My favorite breakfast mean is 'Pain Perdu' (Lost Bread). It's basically an egg fried in bread. Very good. For desert, Bread Pudding is very good.
Below is Dooky Chase, well known Creole restaurant in New Orleans:
Here is Ms. Chase, who was once asked "How do you know if food is actually 'Creole'?" to which she responded, "If a Creole cooks it, then it's Creole cooking":
Hope you get something out of this!
Read Gumbo Tales to learn about New Orleans Cuisine!
Your classmate,
--André
No comments:
Post a Comment