Some key ingredients for louisianna cuisine

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SOME KEY INGREDIENTS FOR LOUISIANA CUISINE ========================================== Of the rich, complex Creole cuisine of New Orleans and the homey, country-style Cajun cuisine of Acadiana (French Louisiana) rely heavily on many ingredients that are made and grown locally.

Substitutions can be made for some, but if you're going for anything like the real thing, try to get authentic ingredients. But first, as my grandmother says ... "First ya make a roux."Roux. Just as it is in classical French cuisine, roux is a mixture of flour and fat, usually butter or oil. It is the basis for many Louisiana dishes, particularly gumbo, but also etouffees, saucepiquantes, and more.

There are three basic types of roux: light (or what the Cajuns ++ call "blond"), medium (or "peanut butter" colored), and dark. There is white roux also, which is cooked for just a minute to get the flour taste out, but this is rarely used in Louisiana cooking. For gumbos, for instance, Creole cooks tend to prefer a blond or medium roux, where Cajun cooks tend to prefer a very dark roux, which is wonderfully smoky tasting. (There are, of course, exceptions to this.) PREPARATION OF ROUX: Preparation of a roux is dependent on cooking time; the longer you cook, the darker the roux. A blond roux will only take four or five minutes; a dark roux up to 20 or 25 minutes at high heat, or up to an hour at low heat. Roux must be stirred constantly to avoid burning. Constantly means not stopping to answer the phone, let the cat in, or flip the LP record over,and if you've got to go the bathroom ... hold it in or hand of your whisk or roux paddle to someone else. If you see black specks in your roux, you've burned it; throw it out and start over. When you're stirring your roux, be very careful not to splatter any on you. It's extremely hot, and it sticks. They don't call it Creole napalm for nothing ...

I have a lovely burn scar on my forearm from last year's Christmas Eve gumbo, when I got sloppy with the stirring. Certain dishes (like crawfish etouffee) would benefit from a butter-based roux, but if you're going to make a dark roux, this will take a longtime. Butter roux must be cooked at lowto low-medium heat, or the butter will scorch. Darker roux arebetter suited to being made with oil. If you know what you're doing, you can make an oil-based roux over medium-high to highwhisking like hell, and you'll have a beautiful near-milk-chocolate colored roux in about 20 minutes rather than an hour. Peanut oil works best for high-heat roux cooking. I'm told that some home cooks are making roux in the microwave now. "No stirring!", they say. "It works!" Bah. Humbug. There'sa certain satisfaction to stirring it by hand that I myself refuse to delegate to a microwave.

Some things simply must be done by hand if you're serious about this.

CRAWFISH: Then, perhaps the next most important indigenous ingredient ... Crawfish. A Louisiana delicacy. Ecrevissein French. Some folks call 'em" mudbugs", hillbillies (Jed Clampett, for instance) call 'em" crawdads", tourists and Yankees call 'em "crayfish". If you goo New Orleans and ask for "crayfish", you'll be asked, "Oh hey dawlin', where ya from?" They are crawfish. Crawfish have a marvelous, delicate flavor, and the crawfish fat adds a mind-bogglingly delicious enrichment to sauces and the like. There no substitute for crawfish; if you want to make crawfish etouffee and you substitute shrimp, you've made shrimpetouffee. Louisiana does export some of its crawfish crop (but 90% of it, or about 10 million pounds per year, is consumed within the state), so some markets around the US do offer them. BEWARE! Crawfish do not keep well, and if they smell or taste the least bit "fishy", they're off. Best bet is to have them shipped live (or the frozen tails) from a source in Louisiana. SEASONINGS AND MEATS: ANDOUILLE: A spicy Louisiana smoked pork sausage. Not to be confused with the continental French "andouillette", which is a tripe sausage and is icky. Hot smoked sausage of any brand can be substituted, but good andouille is a joy. CREOLE HOT SAUSAGE: Regular pork sausage from your butcher just won't do. Fortunately, Submitted By SAM LEFKOWITZ On 08-12-95

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