"creole" news and stories

The fine folks at our sister site Blogging New Orleans have been covering Jazz Fest over the past three days, and have been running their own little food porn collection of the meals available for purchase.

Imagine, if you will, an order of Beignets and a large frozen 'Cafe o'Lait' for breakfast, some crispy, home-style Cajun Fried Chicken served with Jambalaya (as pictured, above) or an order of Traditional Fried Creole Calas which they describe as "a perfectly fried up rice and dough ball covered in powered sugar."

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Most every country or region uses a trinity, or a basic mix of flavors (generally vegetable-based, spice-based, or a combination of the two) for a majority of their signature dishes which include soups, stews, sauces, or variations thereof. Though we have touched on this a few times in the past, I think it bears repeating - especially as to why these flavor combinations are so important for regional dishes.

The Szechuan trinity is a mix of ginger, green garlic, and chili peppers. In Lebanese cuisine, it is a combination of garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. Italy has two - the first is tomato, garlic and basil, which is obviously used for anything with a tomato-based flavor, and the second trinity is olive oil, onion and garlic which is used for just about everything else. In France they use a combination of onions, carrots, and celery called Mirepoix. Admittedly, I make a fresh batch of Mirepoix twice a week and simply keep it in a Zip-lock bag in the fridge because I use it so often.

Over the next few days we'll be taking a look at a number of dishes that fall into the 'Cajun', 'Creole', and 'Southern' food categories. Though there are distinct differences between each style of cooking, for ease of posting I'm going to lump them into the single category of "Mardi Gras food".

I use a basic Creole spice in most of my dishes which I'll be referencing back to over the next couple of days. This is very similar to Emeril's "essence", though each recipe varies slightly. You can adjust the amounts to suit your own personal taste, though the mixture below will produce a nice blend of seasonings and spice that will accent and flavor your food without adding too much heat. If three-alarm is what you are looking for, by all means add more cayenne!

The recipe can be found after the jump.

In this month's issue of GQ magazine, food guru Alan Richman took a glossy, 8-page look at the food of New Orleans post-Katrina. The idea sounds like a good one, so why is the article so controversial? The problem is that the piece was not gushing, not exactly sentimental and, in parts, not accurate about the city and its food.

To date, the vast majority of the pieces about New Orleans have been stories of survival and of working to restore the city to its former state. People rebuild their homes and lives. Restaurants struggle to clean up, reopen and attract customers. Richman writes some about the touching, uplifting parts and the grassroots movements of people to get their lives back in order, but does not write exclusively about the uplifting parts, in fact stating that "New Orleans shouldn't exist," referring to it below-sea level elevation right on a vulnerable coastline. In another controversial assertion, he says that Cajuns originated in Canada, which is true, contrary to what some of his critics have said. However, Richman also states that he doesn't think Creoles ever really existed, but the term applied to a definite and large group of people in the city. He explains his position in the GQ podcast, by the way.

Grits get a bad rap. Thought of as a staple in Appalachian and Deep South diets (which conjures up plenty of fried and fatty foods), grits are making their way into the mainstream and, gasp, can be had in restaurants as far north as Seattle and Boston.

Grits, or hominy grits, are made from corn kernels dried on the cob, removed, and soaked in a solution of baking soda, lime or wood ash. The kernels are then dehulled from the hominy. There is a do-it-yourself process from Mountain Laurel in case you venture to try a grits dish and want to give it whirl in the kitchen. Watch the lye solution ... I've made soap this way and you wouldn't want any going down the gully.

I'd like to see grits incorporated into recipes considered traditionally Northern: any rice/meat combo that doesn't involve shrimp: souffles, tabuli, any rice dish. Still, pork-laced red beans and grits, Andouille (a Louisiana sausage) and grits, creamed spinach and grits ... I feel like the shrimp boat guy in 'Forest Gump.' Seriously, check out the grit scene. And if there isn't one around you, start asking hosts/hostesses to pass along the request to management at your eats joints.

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