Some key ingredients for louisianna cuisine (cont'd)

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it's easy to make it yourself, or you can mail-order it from some Louisiana outlets (I'm not sure if Vaucresson's mail orders, but I'll check). For southern Californians, Pete's hot sausage is locally made by a Louisiana expatriate, and is available at most of the places in L.A. listed in the TASSO:

Tasso is a very highly seasoned lean pork butt, used as a seasoning meat. It has an intense, delicious flavor, and a little goes a long way. I suppose you could substitute smoked ham, but you will not get remotely the same flavor. You can obtain tasso from a few mail-order sources, but if you have a smoker you can make it yourself.

SEASONINGS AND CONDIMENTS: CANE SYRUP: The clear or brown syrup made from sugar cane, and often used locally instead of maple syrup or those thin, nasty, artificially-flavored "pancake syrups". CAYENNE PEPPER: Fiery ground red pepper made from the cayenne chile. Powerful stuff, and used liberaly in Louisiana cooking, especially in combination with white pepper and freshly ground black pepper. CRAB, SHRIMP AND CRAWFISH BOIL SPICES: Spices for boiling seafood. They come either in a flow-through packet, in dry powdered form, or as a liquid concentrate, used to flavor the water in which seafood is boiled. It's strong, pungent and spicy. Zatarain's, Rex, Yogi and Tony Chachere'sare the prevalent brands. Zatarain's comes in the well-known "flow-through" packet; the others are granulated, which you can add to the water and/or sprinkle on the seafood itself after boiling.

CREOLE MUSTARD: A thick, pungent, spicy, coarse local mustard used on po-boysas well as an ingredient in many dishes. The mustard seeds are marinated before preparation. Most common brands are Zatarain'sand Horse Shoe. FILE' POWDER: File' powder is made from dried and ground sassafras leaf. It is used as a seasoning and primarily thickening agent in gumbo, and has a wonderfully pungent and aromatic flavor.

Common local brands are Zatarain's, Rex or Yogi. There is no substitute. Remember that file' should never be added to a pot of gumbo, only to individual servings. If cooked or reheated, it will burn stringy. TABASCO: The King of All Pepper Sauces. Available worldwide, and made in Avery Island, Louisiana by the McIlhenny family since the 1880s. Used as a table sauce and as a cooking ingredient. Other good pepper sauces that are not as distinctively flavored as and are mellower than Tabasco are Crystal and Louisiana RedHot. Sample and pick your favorite, remembering that there are over 60 different brands of hot sauces made in Louisiana.

Submitted By SAM LEFKOWITZ On 08-12-95

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