Sunday, October 27, 2013

What Makes Cajun Eggs Cajun And Not Creole

By Cornelia Reyes


There is something special about eating deviled Cajun eggs after going to church Sunday morning to snack on until supper supper is ready. Lots of people get Cajun and creole foods mixed up and often believe the two are the same. Sometimes people believe that if it has some red spice on it, like deviled eggs, they are good examples of Cajun cooking.

To understand the difference someone must look at the background of each type of cooking and how it slowly evolved. True Cajuns cook using whatever they can find and make eating a joyous experience. When the French- Canadian settlers came to south Louisiana they often had few supplies and very little money. To live they looked around and took from nature the resources they needed to live and eat.

The general term Creole is a reference to the primary settlers of the New Orleans, Louisiana area. These were often wealthy families who had chefs on their staff from other famous cities. Because most of the types of food they would normally use were not available to them, the governor asked his own personal chefs to help teach them to use many indigenous animals or native plants for their cooking.

There is an odd expression in New Orleans that is, a creole feeds one family with three birds and a Cajuns feeds three families with one bird. Most creoles prefer to use flour and butter and as the base for their sauces and soups. Most Cajuns prefer to use flour and lard for the base of most of their sauces and soups.

A fine example is traditional gumbo soup. Most creole gumbo soup is made with a tomato like base and butter and flour. The end result being that it turns out more like soup when finished cooking. Most Cajuns will use a simple Roux base for making their gumbo stew using pork lard with flour. The finished dish turns out being more like thick stew than a soup.

The creole style cooking is more like the city cooking most people were used to. While they did make great use of many spices like pepper, red pepper, mustard and allspice to name a few; they also incorporated garlic, tomatoes and potatoes into their cooking. There was more emphasis placed on cream and butter and the sauces they made.

Even though the average person thinks that Cajuns season their meals fiery hot, it is not always the case. They like seasoning their foods with lots of black and white pepper, allspice and chili peppers. However, much of their food is based around the animals that are found in local swamps and the ocean. From clams and crayfish to more exotic types of fish, grains and game.

So if you have ever been puzzled by what gives Cajun eggs their name or anything on the menu that has it as well, it is in all probability the addition of course ground pepper or hot sauce. What it would actually need to be true is a seafood stew loaded with celery, garlic, onions and potatoes floating around. This is what most people from Louisiana call home cooking.




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