Yes, there is a difference between Cajun and Creole cooking. Some culinarians mistakenly call a dish Cajun when it is actually creole -- and vice versa. So, hopefully we can clear up some of this confusion with the following explanations: Two of the world's most popular regional cuisines, Cajun and Creole, blend the flavors of fresh ingredients with New Orleans' rich French, Spanish and Caribbean heritage. The result is a jazzy, robust taste that enhances even the most everyday ingredients. Creole cooking requires more seasonings and oils, which make its flavor intense. The dishes are rich in texture and often begin with a roux, a browned mixture of flour and oil. Cajun dishes are Creole's first cousins. Developed by the descendants of French-speaking Acadians banished from Nova Scotia in the 1700's, Cajun cuisine features dishes using simple ingredients that can generally be prepared in one large pot.Cajun cooking also generally uses plenty of animal -- usually pork -- fat while Creole cooking places its emphasis on butter and cream. Both cuisines make generous use of file' powder, ground dried leaves of the sassafras tree. They also frequently make use of the culinary holy trinity of chopped green peppers, onions and celery. Two of the more traditional Cajun dishes include jambalaya and coush-coush (a thick cornmeal breakfast dish). Probably the most famous dish of Creole heritage is Gumbo...
* BEIGNET: a light, square doughnut usually dusted with powdered sugar. * CRAB & SHRIMP BOIL: a local product used to season boiled seafood; available in dry or liquid form. * CREOLE TOMATOES: highly prized tomatoes, grown locally in rich Mississippi River delta soil; incredible flavor and texture. * E'TOUFFE'E: a dish such as shrimp or chicken cooked slowly in a covered pot with vegetables and seasonings, smothered; stewed. * MEUNIE`RE: a popular butter sauce used on seafood. *POPCORN RICE: a special type of rice grown in southwest Louisiana that has a nutty flavor and smells like popcorn when cooking. * ROUX: a cooked mixture of equal parts of fat and flour used as the base of many Cajun and Creole dishes. * SHRIMP ESSENCE: the spicy concentrated shrimp broth resulting from the dry boil method. * ZEST: a thin outer skin of an orange or lemon used as flavoring.
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