Food
As WWWiz's Web chef, I'm looking forward to helping you broaden your culinary horizons by presenting cooking-related happenings that are taking place in association with the WWW...both present and future. I'll bring you interviews with the world-renowned chefs and restaurateurs embracing the Web, as well as the newest and most exciting offerings from the kitchen equipment manufacturers choosing this new medium to share their wares. I will, of course, leave you each month with a pot full of excellent recipes with which to hone your skills and wow your friends. All this and more! The only things temporarily missing will be the actual tastes and smells. (They say those, too, are on the way-believe it or not!) Meanwhile...providing that part will still be up to you.
WWWiz's new start, like a birthday, deserves a celebration, and I believe there is no better city in which to celebrate (especially the art of cooking), than New Orleans. The opening of exciting, new, eclectic restaurants in the gourmet capital of the South is causing food lovers everywhere to again become conscious of Cajun-style cooking (as if it were ever forgotten!). I am talking about Bayona and Emeril's in New Orleans-read all about it on the Web!!
To give you a little background on Cajun cooking, let's go back to the beginning. Traditional Louisiana cooking has two great branches: Cajun and Creole. Cajun is the heartier, spicier, and more rustic of the two, with few set guidelines-a cuisine based primarily on taste.
"What is a Cajun?" you ask. The Acadians (some people say "Cajun" is a corruption of "Acadian") originally came from southern France to Canada in the 1600s, bringing with them the flavorful country cooking style of their native France. When they migrated to Louisiana in 1755, after being driven from Canada by the British, they settled along the bayous to the West and resumed their usual livelihoods, farming, fishing, and trapping. They brought along their way of life and way of cooking, applying their familiar country-style methods to a completely new environment.
Louisiana's natural resources inspired the Cajuns to use its strange new animals and plants. The Native American Choctaws made file powder from ground dried sassafras leaves, and the Cajuns used it, along with the okra which the slaves had brought with them from Africa, to flavor and thicken stews. They easily assimilated the spicy influences of Spanish cooking, as well, and made good use of the bay laurel leaves and fiery hot peppers which grew wild.
The Cajuns then worked their unique magic, combining their French roots of roux making and the country habit of long, slow cooking to form some of the traditional dishes (e.g., gumbo, jambalaya, etoufee, etc.) still found in Louisiana kitchens. So you see, Cajun cooking is really a cooking of adaptation and innovation that persists in Acadiana where today's Cajuns live. Before Paul Prudhomme opened his famous K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans in 1979, however, only Louisiana natives were familiar with Cajun-Creole food. With the publication of his first cookbook, Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen in 1984, he made Americans realize that they, too, could cook gumbo and jambalaya at home.
K-Paul's is an unpretentious, no-reservations kind of restaurant. Years ago when I was there, I had to wait in a long line that stretched around the block. Nevertheless, his food was (and still is!) well worth the wait. Paul Prudhomme produces his own line of Cajun seasonings he calls "Louisiana Cajun Magic," which enhance the flavor of even those dishes not cooked in the Louisiana style.
To make your own Cajun seasoning blend
You can use the seasoning to your taste in the following delicious Seafood Gumbo recipe:
Tarla's Seafood Gumbo
Cajun seasonings (to taste)
1/3C oil
2 lb. fresh fish (i.e. sea bass, swordfish, halibut, etc.) cut
into 1" cubes
1/4 lb. shrimp, shelled, deveined and butterflied (optional)
1/2 lb. tavern ham, sliced 1/4" thick and cut into 1/2"
cubes
roux:
1/3C oil
1/3C flour
2C onions, chopped (reserve 2 Tbsp)
2 stalks celery, chopped (reserve 2 Tbsp)
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced (reserve 1 tsp)
1/4C Italian parsley, finely minced (reserve 1 tsp)
4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
3C fish or chicken stock
1 28-oz. can or 1 26-oz. box plum tomatoes, pureed in a food processor
1 tsp dried thyme
3 whole bay leaves, crushed
freshly ground pepper
Heat 1/3C oil in a heavy-duty pan. Toss fish cubes with Cajun seasonings to taste and sauté until opaque. Remove from pan and set aside. Toss shrimp with Cajun seasonings and sauté until pink. Remove from pan and set aside. Sauté ham until lightly browned. Remove from pan and set aside.
To make the roux, stir onions, celery, green onions, parsley and garlic cloves together in a bowl, and reserved portions of each in a separate bowl. Add the remaining 1/3C oil and heat; add flour and stir together. Cook until very dark-brown, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. When the color is dark enough, immediately add vegetable mixture, thyme, Cajun seasonings (to taste) and bay leaves to the pan and cook 10 minutes. Add stock and tomatoes; bring to a simmer. Simmer 30 minutes uncovered. Set aside until ready to serve.
About 10 minutes before serving, return fish and shrimp to pan and bring to just a simmer to finish cooking the fish. Add ham, reserved vegetables, and additional seasonings to taste.
MAKES: 10-12 servings
As you can see from the above recipe, some of the specialties of Cajun cooking combine some very basic techniques such as the making of a good roux and a rich, flavorful stock. You don't need much cookware for Cajun cooking-just a heavy-duty, cast-iron skillet, a stockpot, and a large, shallow baking pan.
The ingredients used in Cajun cooking have always depended upon what was available; for instance, if you lived near the coast, you used seafood. Rice, an abundant Louisiana crop, is a staple. The Acadians adapted their dishes to the resources that grew wild in the area where they settled, using file powder from the sassafras tree, bay leaves from the laurel tree, and an abundance of different fresh peppers, such as cayenne and banana, that grew wild in Southern Louisiana.
Louisiana is a fabulous setting for a cook because of these bountiful natural resources, including a wide variety of wildlife roaming the marshlands, and a wealth of fresh fish and shellfish gathered from saltwater and freshwater lakes and streams, as well as from the coastal waters. Using fresh, local produce to maximize flavor is one of the most important elements of good cooking.
The usual proportion of oil to flour is fifty-fifty. Roux can be made in advance, cooled, then stored in an airtight jar for several days in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
In general, a light- or medium-brown roux is used in sauces or gravies for dark, heavy meats such as beef or game. Dark, red-brown and black roux are used in sauces and gravies for sweet, light, white meats such as pork, rabbit, veal and all kinds of freshwater and saltwater fish. Paul Prudhomme feels that black roux is best to use in gumbos because the darkest roux results in the thinnest, best-tasting gumbos of all.
Tips for making a proper roux:
Be very careful to avoid splashing it on you-use a long-handled
metal whisk or wooden spoon.
Always begin with a clean, heavy skillet, (e.g. cast-iron-never
nonstick).
The oil should be smoking hot before the flour is added.
Once the oil is heated, stir the flour in gradually and stir or
whisk quickly and constantly to avoid burning the mixture.
If black specks appear in the roux as it cooks, it has burned
and must be discarded.
When the roux reaches the desired color, remove it from the heat
and stir in the vegetables; this stops the browning process.
While cooking roux, if you feel it is darkening too fast, immediately
remove it from the heat and whisk constantly until you feel in
control of it again.
Tips on Proper Stock Making
Use ingredients you commonly have in your kitchen (e.g. meat or
poultry bones, vegetables trimmings, seafood shells, etc.).
Don't use bell peppers, spices or livers.
For a fuller taste you can first roast meat bones and vegetables
at 350F until thoroughly browned, then use them to make your stock.
Always start with cold water-enough to cover the other stock ingredients.
To make a rich stock,
strain the basic stock, then continue simmering it until evaporation
reduces the liquid by half or more.
In this article we covered only the Cajun style of Louisiana cooking. Next month, we'll delve into the Creole style which relies more on the cooking of the wealthier French and Spanish influences-but more about that next month!
References
Cookbooks for Cajun Cookery:
Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen (Paul Prudhomme)
Patout's Cajun Home Cooking (Alex Patout)
TV Shows About Louisiana Cookery:
TV Food Network (Check listings, Channel 47)
"Great Chefs of New Orleans and Great Chefs of the Louisiana
New Garde," Discovery Channel, 4:00 P.M. Monday-Friday, 11:00
A.M. Sunday
Joe Cahn's New Orleans School of Cooking
Cajun Restaurants in New Orleans, Louisiana:
Bayona
Emeril's
Brennan's
K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen
Brennan's
Brigsten's
Gabrielle
Louis XVI
[for more information on these, see Great New Orleans]
More Cajun Restaurants:
Chuck's Picks at:
http:www.webcom.com/~gumbo/no-rest.html
Gumbo Pot-Los Angeles, CA
Harold & Belle's-Los Angeles, CA
Orleans-Los Angeles, CA
Palace Cafe-Santa Barbara, CA
Bayou Bar and Grill-San Diego, CA
Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen-Dallas, TX
Greenery-Chicago, IL
For information on the Music, Culture and Food of New Orleans, see:
http:www.webcom.com/~gumbo/no-home.html
Send me your interesting Food Pages!!