Whether your favorite is served in Lake Charles, Lafayette, or New Orleans, the diversity of ingredients and cooking methods just give Louisiana even more delectable foods to eat.
1. Jambalaya
A Louisiana classic. Cooks of this scrumptious dish put different kinds of meat in their jambalaya. Some put sausage, chicken, or even pork, as well as shrimp or crawfish. Jambalaya has ingredients like onions, cloves of garlic, green bell pepper, celery, parsley, cayenne pepper, and last but not least rice. No matter the ingredients, this rice dish is a Louisiana staple!
2. Etoufee
My all-time favorite is crawfish etouffee. You can also have shrimp etouffee or a combination of both. Like any good Louisiana dish, etouffee is served over rice. Etoufee consists of chopped onions, celery, bell peppers, green onions, butter, tomatoes, creole seasoning, and your choice of meat.
3. Gumbo
Chicken and sausage or seafood, either way, gumbo will warm you up on those “cold” winter days. First thing first, you have to make a roux! The blend of flour and oil will set the stage for your gumbo and is the cause of much debate as some like their gumbo thin while others like it thick. No matter which engages your taste buds, the addition of onions, your favorite meat, seasonings, and the ever present rice make gumbo the best dish for winter or an air-conditioned summer day.
4. Boudin
I honestly don’t know how people don’t like boudin. My personal favorite is boudin balls. They are so crunchy and juicy. The ingredients that go in boudin sound disgusting, but believe me, Cajuns will agree, it’s good. The ingredients consist of pork butt, pork liver, onion, garlic, thyme, cayenne, rice, green onions, parsley, and hog casings. These ingredients are just as diverse as the types of boudin and the places it can be bought. There is now even a Boudin War held to see which establishment serves the best.
5. Red Beans & Rice
This all-day, slow cooked meal sounds simple but is very complex. True red beans and rice are started the night before, as dried beans are soaked overnight. The next morning, the water is poured off, and the beans are put to cooking with a variety of ingredients including onions, garlic, and seasoning. Sausage, tasso, and ham hocks are added and cooked for several hours. This pot of goodness is served over rice and is the perfect end to your day.
6. Crawfish
When Louisianans talk about going to eat crawfish or cooking crawfish, they are usually talking about boiling the little red crustaceans. These little guys seem foreign to those who have never had them, but they are a delicacy to those that have. Crawfish boils are an all day affair that involves as many friends as you can fit around your table. Crawfish are bought by the sacks, purged all morning, then added to a pot of boiling water. This pot could also include potatoes, corn, lemons, sausage, carrots, mushrooms, onions, and seasoning. When these little pieces of heaven are cooked, they are poured on a table buffet style, sprinkled with a little Tony’s, peeled and savored! If you are lucky, you get shrimp and crabs boiled that day also!
7. Po’boys
Po’boys can range from cold cuts to fried foods, but the consistent ingredient is always crusty bread that is soft on the inside. The bread is the most important part of the sandwich, as it must be both crispy and fluffy; sturdy enough to hold all the goodness put on it, but soft enough to be eaten easily. The inside is a whole other issue. One of the best is usually called a special and contains ham, turkey, and roast beef, with cheese, jalapeno mayonnaise, lettuce and topped off with the roast beef gravy. This is messy but so worth it! Other po’boys could include fried shrimp, fried oysters, fried crawfish, as well as a new one I tried just the other day, the crawfish boil. The crawfish boil po'boy contains boiled potatoes, boiled crawfish, corn, and pink sauce. No matter which is your favorite, the true po’boy fan will have definite opinions about what is best.
8. King Cake
Imagine a large cinnamon twist, baked to perfection, filled with a creamy goodness, then covered in purple, gold and green icing. This is what a king cake is. This is just a snapshot of what a king cake can be like, as they now come in a variety of fillings and toppings. These are usually sweet, but in the past few years, there are even savory king cakes filled with boudin being served. Whether you want yours filled with cream cheese, lemon, blueberry, or boudin, and topped with donut-type icing, chocolate, and pecans, or Steen’s syrup, the king cake usually shows up around January 6th and stays around until just after Mardi Gras. If you find the baby inside, you are tagged to bring the next king cake to the party.
9. Pralines
Pralines are a specialty that take skill to make. These must be made at the right temperature or you will have a gooey mess on your hands. Pralines can be hard or chewy, depending on where you buy them, but are always made from sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, and pecans. My favorite place to get pralines is at Aunt Sally’s in Jackson Square in New Orleans and I savor them as long as possible. A bonus is when you get there at the right time and can watch the little lady make the pralines.
10. Beignets
If you are from Louisiana, you have heard of Café du Monde and their famous beignets. They are amazing and I can only imagine how many have been served over the years. The best way to describe a beignet is it is a fried biscuit covered in powdered sugar. Growing up, a friend’s mom would make us homemade beignets by doing this exact same thing….taking refrigerated store bought biscuits, cutting them in half or quarters, deep frying them, and covering with powdered sugar as soon as they come out of the oil. If you can’t make it to New Orleans, you can always make these bites of amazingness at home.
If you want good food, come to Louisiana. No matter where you stop, there is a tasty morsel that will make your stomach happy and bring a smile to your face.
