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Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Yahoo
Discover 5 of Louisiana's most iconic dishes
Being so uniquely Louisianan, the world-class dishes created in this Southern state are nearly impossible to define simply as American. The cuisine here reflects a varied tapestry of cultures, with the influence of France, Spain, West Africa, the Caribbean, Germany, Italy and Native Americans woven into its distinct recipes. In the west, you have Cajun country, an area populated by Acadians originally from French-speaking Canada. In the north, Southern-style home cooking is the order of the day. Then, there's the Creole influence in the lively city of New Orleans. Wherever you head, many dishes are dominated by a slow-cooked roux, and the 'holy trinity', a mixture of onions, peppers and celery — Louisiana's answer to the mirepoix (a base of diced vegetables). Discover this and much more of the Bayou State's cuisine at its absolute best by sampling five of its standout dishes. Gumbo is Louisiana encapsulated in a single dish, a cultural melting pot in which Gallic, Spanish, Choctaw, West African, Caribbean and Southern culinary traditions collide. The most familiar gumbos are made with seafood as well as chicken and sausage, but, in reality, recipes vary across the state. When it comes to preparing the dish, a few points of contention exist. Some people use tomatoes in their recipe, whereas others consider that sacrilege. Some gumbos are thickened with okra, and others use filé (a spicy herb seasoning). Then, there are chefs who swear by a dark chocolate-coloured roux versus those who favour a lighter colour. Depending on where you're visiting, gumbo may be a dressed-up soup with shrimp, sausage, crab and tomato (like in Creole-influenced New Orleans) or a heartier, gravy-thick stew made with game birds, seafood and certainly no tomato (found in the Cajun Acadiana region). Nobody agrees about the one true way to cook this dish, but every Louisianan will agree that a piping hot bowl of gumbo is one of life's most cherished pleasures. Where to try it: Rachel's Cafe in Lafayette serves up delectable Cajun-style gumbo. In New Orleans, for haute renditions of the dish, head to institutions like Pêche and Commander's Palace. The twangy Deep South cousin to its ancestors, Spanish paella and West African jollof rice, jambalaya is a hearty, comforting combination of thick and creamy rice stewed with meat, seafood and vegetables. It's a dish that's often cooked in massive proportions for celebrations and communal gatherings. Like many of the state's signature foods, views on what constitutes a proper jambalaya depend on where you're from, as there are hundreds of variations, with home cooks liable to voraciously defend their own preferred method. Cajun jambalaya is known for its bold, spicy flavour with no tomatoes. The New Orleans 'red jambalaya', on the other hand, includes tomatoes and is primarily found in and around the city. Almost every iteration, though, will begin with a golden brown roux and the holy trinity, and, for most people, hot sauce is also a necessity. Where to try it: The Jambalaya Shoppe in Baton Rouge serves up solid, spicy Cajun renditions of the dish. There's also Evangeline in New Orleans, Marilynn's Place in Shreveport and Johnson's Boucanière in Lafayette. The UK has the toastie. In Vietnam, it's the bánh mì. In Louisiana, the po' boy reigns supreme. Essentially a sandwich of infinite possibilities, the po' boy is a New Orleans original, created in 1929 by two deli-owning brothers. To feed picketing streetcar workers, the brothers would fill up baguettes with pot-roast scraps. 'Here comes another poor boy', the picketers would say to the chefs when requesting a sandwich. 'Poor boy' was shortened to 'po' boy', and it's stuck ever since. Nowadays, the most popular variations of the sandwich (almost all require a crunchy baguette, lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayo) feature fried shrimp, oysters, roast beef or catfish. There are, of course, more eclectic versions containing alligator, or boudin (a type of sausage), which should also be on your culinary checklist. Where to try it: Olde Tyme Grocery in Lafayette is an old-school, no-frills, counter-service deli dishing out some of the best po' boys around. In New Orleans, both Parkway Bakery and Domicile's Po' Boy are local institutions, the former specialising in a roast beef po' boy and the latter a shrimp variation. They say that Cajun food without crawfish (crayfish) is like French food without butter, and there's arguably no better way to consume the beloved crustacean than in crawfish étouffée (meaning 'smothered' in French). The creamy stew consists of a buttery rich seafood broth, enriched with spicy, cayenne-infused seasonings, the holy trinity and succulent crawfish tails — all of which is served over rice. This dish celebrates the flavours hiding within the state's fruitful waterways. You'll find the best iterations during crawfish season (from February to mid-May) and along the Bayou Country Crawfish Trail. Where to try it: In New Orleans, test out the old-school Cajun kitchen at The Bon Ton Cafe. Or head to Boudreau & Thibodeau's Cajun Cookin', a homely joint in Houma. Monday night in Louisiana means one thing — red beans and rice for dinner. The dish has been a staple across the state for centuries; legend has it that its popularity derives more from necessity than culinary tradition. Historically, Louisianians would cook up a ham on Sunday nights. Monday was typically laundry day, so, amid the washing, home cooks would reuse the ham bone and slow-cook it in red beans along with the holy trinity, cayenne and leftover bits of ham and sausage. The consistency of the resulting red beans is that of a creamy soup (with soft bean chunks), and it's served atop white rice. Today, the beloved comfort food has made its way beyond the back burner at home and into the state's most famous kitchens. Where to try it: This dish is the Monday special at Lil' Dizzys in New Orleans. The beans are simmered all day and you can incorporate smoked sausage, a tender pork chop or Cajun-fried chicken. This paid content article was created for Explore Louisiana. It does not necessarily reflect the views of National Geographic, National Geographic Traveller (UK) or their editorial staffs. To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) click here. (Available in select countries only).
National Geographic
23-03-2025
- National Geographic
Discover 5 of Louisiana's most iconic dishes
Being so uniquely Louisianan, the world-class dishes created in this Southern state are nearly impossible to define simply as American. The cuisine here reflects a varied tapestry of cultures, with the influence of France, Spain, West Africa, the Caribbean, Germany, Italy and Native Americans woven into its distinct recipes. In the west, you have Cajun country, an area populated by Acadians originally from French-speaking Canada. In the north, Southern-style home cooking is the order of the day. Then, there's the Creole influence in the lively city of New Orleans. Wherever you head, many dishes are dominated by a slow-cooked roux, and the 'holy trinity', a mixture of onions, peppers and celery — Louisiana's answer to the mirepoix (a base of diced vegetables). Discover this and much more of the Bayou State's cuisine at its absolute best by sampling five of its standout dishes. Travel on one of Louisiana's historic red streetcars as you weave between restaurants in New Orleans' French Quarter. Photograph by Explore Louisiana 1. Gumbo Gumbo is Louisiana encapsulated in a single dish, a cultural melting pot in which Gallic, Spanish, Choctaw, West African, Caribbean and Southern culinary traditions collide. The most familiar gumbos are made with seafood as well as chicken and sausage, but, in reality, recipes vary across the state. When it comes to preparing the dish, a few points of contention exist. Some people use tomatoes in their recipe, whereas others consider that sacrilege. Some gumbos are thickened with okra, and others use filé (a spicy herb seasoning). Then, there are chefs who swear by a dark chocolate-coloured roux versus those who favour a lighter colour. Depending on where you're visiting, gumbo may be a dressed-up soup with shrimp, sausage, crab and tomato (like in Creole-influenced New Orleans) or a heartier, gravy-thick stew made with game birds, seafood and certainly no tomato (found in the Cajun Acadiana region). Nobody agrees about the one true way to cook this dish, but every Louisianan will agree that a piping hot bowl of gumbo is one of life's most cherished pleasures. Where to try it: Rachel's Cafe in Lafayette serves up delectable Cajun-style gumbo. In New Orleans, for haute renditions of the dish, head to institutions like Pêche and Commander's Palace. Gumbo is perhaps the state's most iconic dish, with the seafood version one of the most popular varieties. Photograph by Explore Louisiana 2. Jambalaya The twangy Deep South cousin to its ancestors, Spanish paella and West African jollof rice, jambalaya is a hearty, comforting combination of thick and creamy rice stewed with meat, seafood and vegetables. It's a dish that's often cooked in massive proportions for celebrations and communal gatherings. Like many of the state's signature foods, views on what constitutes a proper jambalaya depend on where you're from, as there are hundreds of variations, with home cooks liable to voraciously defend their own preferred method. Cajun jambalaya is known for its bold, spicy flavour with no tomatoes. The New Orleans 'red jambalaya', on the other hand, includes tomatoes and is primarily found in and around the city. Almost every iteration, though, will begin with a golden brown roux and the holy trinity, and, for most people, hot sauce is also a necessity. Where to try it: The Jambalaya Shoppe in Baton Rouge serves up solid, spicy Cajun renditions of the dish. There's also Evangeline in New Orleans, Marilynn's Place in Shreveport and Johnson's Boucanière in Lafayette. Jambalaya is a comforting rice dish combined with fish, meat or vegetables — often compared to a Spanish paella. Photograph by Explore Louisiana 3. Po' boy The UK has the toastie. In Vietnam, it's the bánh mì. In Louisiana, the po' boy reigns supreme. Essentially a sandwich of infinite possibilities, the po' boy is a New Orleans original, created in 1929 by two deli-owning brothers. To feed picketing streetcar workers, the brothers would fill up baguettes with pot-roast scraps. 'Here comes another poor boy', the picketers would say to the chefs when requesting a sandwich. 'Poor boy' was shortened to 'po' boy', and it's stuck ever since. Nowadays, the most popular variations of the sandwich (almost all require a crunchy baguette, lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayo) feature fried shrimp, oysters, roast beef or catfish. There are, of course, more eclectic versions containing alligator, or boudin (a type of sausage), which should also be on your culinary checklist. Where to try it: Olde Tyme Grocery in Lafayette is an old-school, no-frills, counter-service deli dishing out some of the best po' boys around. In New Orleans, both Parkway Bakery and Domicile's Po' Boy are local institutions, the former specialising in a roast beef po' boy and the latter a shrimp variation. 3. Crawfish étouffée They say that Cajun food without crawfish (crayfish) is like French food without butter, and there's arguably no better way to consume the beloved crustacean than in crawfish étouffée (meaning 'smothered' in French). The creamy stew consists of a buttery rich seafood broth, enriched with spicy, cayenne-infused seasonings, the holy trinity and succulent crawfish tails — all of which is served over rice. This dish celebrates the flavours hiding within the state's fruitful waterways. You'll find the best iterations during crawfish season (from February to mid-May) and along the Bayou Country Crawfish Trail. Where to try it: In New Orleans, test out the old-school Cajun kitchen at The Bon Ton Cafe. Or head to Boudreau & Thibodeau's Cajun Cookin', a homely joint in Houma. 4. Red beans and rice Monday night in Louisiana means one thing — red beans and rice for dinner. The dish has been a staple across the state for centuries; legend has it that its popularity derives more from necessity than culinary tradition. Historically, Louisianians would cook up a ham on Sunday nights. Monday was typically laundry day, so, amid the washing, home cooks would reuse the ham bone and slow-cook it in red beans along with the holy trinity, cayenne and leftover bits of ham and sausage. The consistency of the resulting red beans is that of a creamy soup (with soft bean chunks), and it's served atop white rice. Today, the beloved comfort food has made its way beyond the back burner at home and into the state's most famous kitchens. Where to try it: This dish is the Monday special at Lil' Dizzys in New Orleans. The beans are simmered all day and you can incorporate smoked sausage, a tender pork chop or Cajun-fried chicken. Plan your trip Flights are available from London, Manchester and Belfast to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Throughout Louisiana, there are good public transport options, especially in the cities, although hiring a car at the airport is the easiest option for exploring the whole state. For more information, visit This paid content article was created for Explore Louisiana. It does not necessarily reflect the views of National Geographic, National Geographic Traveller (UK) or their editorial staffs. To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) click here. (Available in select countries only).
The Independent
21-02-2025
- The Independent
Gators, gumbo and good times: The heady new Louisiana food trail you need to try
The swamp airboat skimmed across the beer-bottle waters of the Atchafalaya Basin in a putt-putting bluster of noise. The vast wetland east of Lafayette mirrored the large Louisiana sky, cloud-smudged and cornflower blue. Shards of dried cypress punctured the wrinkled waters like fish teeth, distracting my unpractised eyes from spotting our elusive quarry. My skipper was Armond Berard – a delightfully unvarnished bayou boatman complete with hoary beard and a voice like a double bass. Unlike Armond, I claim no expertise in alligator spotting or swamp tours, but had always assumed that the gators generally stayed on the outside of the boat: not so. Armond waved over the only other vessel in sight: a black tin shell that looked like it had seen battle. A couple perched on its gunwales, laid-back in camo shorts, daisy dukes and the burning midday sun. As our boat drifted alongside, I could see they were not alone. Three alligators engulfed the hull, their prehistoric skulls sporting crimson bullet holes. 'The big ones need to be hunted,' explained Armond. 'If we don't keep them in check, they eat everything here, they come into town...' he trailed off. It wasn't quite the nature experience I had expected, but these gators will be put to good use on local menus. It was hard to feel too much pity for the culled creatures when I considered the alligator sausage po' boy sandwich I'd demolished a few days before in New Orleans — a sweet, smokey number that bent and burst with flavour, clear juices oozing into crusty bread. New Orleans is where my US road trip began, on a new food trail that weaves through Louisiana 's southern cities. To the surprise of many, New Orleans (NOLA) is not the state capital. Instead it's Louisiana's queen mother; a wily grande dame wreathed in jewels, jazz and not a little liquor. It's hard not to love NOLA's unhinged elegance, hopping from MS Rau's glittering fine arts to street psychics clutching cups of Pimms, and accompanied by the merry blast of brass trickling from somewhere nearby. NOLA's heady fusion of tradition and rebellion is reflected in its cuisine. Kitchens have kept a tight hold on classic dishes while letting others run wild, resulting in a city overflowing with great food. After ticking off famous po' boys, muffuletta sandwiches, seafood gumbo, red beans and rice, try Pêche's unbeatable crab rice, effortlessly cool Coquette's locally-sourced menu, and crowning glory Jewel – one of the World's 50 Best Bars and a James Beard Award winner. Despite such gorging, I couldn't resist a final beignet hit as I left the city. These heavenly, yeasted pillows are a Creole breakfast staple, excavated from under powdered mountains of sugar. At the last possible outpost of beignet bastion, Café du Monde, I took a seat with my doughnuts and watched two children at the next table. Faces and hands snow-white with icing sugar, they were delightedly clapping clouds of the stuff into sunlit beams as their mother watched. I expected to see stony-faced staff, but they laughed along, ready brooms in hand. In Louisiana, there's a real sense that food should be fun. An hour-and-a-half drive along the I-10 past lush, glittering swamplands brings you to the state capital. A fusion of Cajun-Creole cuisine sits at the heart of Baton Rouge, but American college football is in its blood. The LSU Tigers rule the town with banners of imperial purple and gold; game days see every person in Baton Rouge rock up to the arena parking for tailgates – all-day revelries of food and drink. The city is also home to Red Stick Spice Co., where Anne Milneck offers hour-long cooking classes teaching the history and recipes of local cuisine. The standout is her crawfish étouffée – phenomenally soft and sweet crawfish smothered in creamy, Cajun-seasoned sauce. Like many Louisiana dishes, étouffée starts with the all-important roux: a flour and fat thickener that varies wildly from town to town, kitchen to kitchen. Mention roux in Louisiana and locals start reciting shades of brown like a malfunctioning Dulux paint mixer – 'peanut butter', 'caramel', 'paper bag'. Driving across the alligator-full Atchafalaya Basin and onto Lafayette, the roux turns the colour of conkers. On the city's Cajun Food Tour, I get a taste of rich chicken gumbo, crispy fried alligator and all-important boudin. This flavourful Cajun sausage is a blend of pork, rice, onion, peppers and seasoning, and is so popular there are even boudin drive-throughs. Boudin is a piece of Cajun history, created when Acadian farmers raised a pig each year for a 'boucherie' — a day-long party where neighbours helped slaughter and smoke the meat to preserve it. While the lard was saved for that dark roux, the remainder of the pig was ground up and thickened with blood – later rice – to feed the helpers. Boucheries live on at Johnson's Boucanière: an unfussy, family-run haunt where punchy garlic sausages are seared on the barbecue until they smoke and crisp – and boudin is best alongside pulled pork in a sickly-delicious sandwich. Lafayette isn't all about tradition though – its downtown is full of slick modern restaurants and bars, where well-travelled young chefs like Vestal's Sullivan Zant bring fusion takes to Cajun food. Adding miles and inches under my struggling belt, I continued west, passing old plantations and oak trees emerald thick with Jesus moss. Lake Charles is the food trail's final stop, a shining city that swells about its huge, eponymous lake. Known as 'Louisiana's playground', Lake Charles is known for gambling and good times, hosting plentiful Texans who border-hop to play blackjack. The city swirls with a strange mix of homeliness and hedonism – there's vintage shopping, casinos, luxury pontooning on the lake, picnics of brisket and fudgy pralines under wind-tickled trees. My last day of indulgence brought Donnie's karaoke cycling tour, which blasted through my buttoned-up Britishness with Nineties tunes, blistering heat and the careful application of breakfast margaritas. The party continued with drive-through daiquiris: mine the size of a bourbon barrel, nuclear green, with a pair of witches legs sticking out the top. After a dinner of locally-grown 'boutique' oysters at Salt Revival, my eight-day trail ended in a final fantastical evening of Louisiana hospitality. Plied with live jazz and further cocktails at Panorama Music House, I danced with warm-hearted locals under neon lights, feeling like Alice in a well-spiked Wonderland. Travel essentials How to do it You can join a Red Stick Cooking Co. course from $105pp (£83pp). Explore the Atchafalaya swamp with McGee's from $55 (£43) per adult, minimum three people, and taste Lafayette's culinary scene with Cajun Food Tours for $69pp (£55pp). At Lake Charles, join Donnie's karaoke bike tour for $40pp (£32pp), or take a private lake pontoon tour for up to six people with Sarge Antoine Jr – $120pp (£95pp) for the first hour, then $80pp (£64pp) per additional hour. America As You Like It (020 8742 8299) has a 10-night holiday to New Orleans from £1,910pp, including direct return flights to New Orleans, car hire, three nights at the Hotel Saint Vincent in New Orleans, two nights at the Origin hotel in Baton Rouge, three nights at the L'Auberge Casino Resort in Lake Charles, and two nights at the Mouton Plantation in Lafayette. Where to stay Hotel Saint Vincent, New Orleans Get a taste of tradition at this 1861 former infant asylum. Set in New Orleans' charmingly cool Lower Garden District, Saint Vincent mixes old-fashioned elegance and modern touches, with art gilding each cosy corner. There's a courtyard pool and garden, two bars and restaurants and 75 newly-designed rooms complete with verandas. Enjoy a cavalcade of casino fun with L'Auberge's landscaped gardens, extensive golf course, pool and lazy river. There's multiple bars, restaurants and fireside lounges, shopping arcades as well as a comprehensive spa. Spacious and sleek, its 26 stories and 1,000 rooms have just had an $80 million renovation.
