Cajun Cuisine: Authentic Cajun Recipes from Louisiana's Bayou Country

`Cajun Cuisine', published by the very local Louisiana publishing house, Beau Bayou Publishing Company, and with no clearly discernible author, may be the publishing analogue to what in the culinary world is called `rustic' or in the pharmaceutical world, `generic'. Aside from a fairly nicely composed cover photograph of all sorts of raw and prepared Louisiana victuals, there are no frills and only one `pretension', in the form of a semi-scholarly introductory essay on `Arcadian (Cajun) Cuisine' by the retired Director, School of Home Economics, University of Southwestern Louisiana, Marie Louise Comeaux Manual. While this author's credentials are `academic', her essay is not terribly scholarly, as it is poorly written. It does, however, do a decent job of adding some material to our understanding of `Cajun' cooking.Most foodies know that there is a `Cajun' and a `Creole' cuisine, which seem to coexist in and around Louisiana, centered in New Orleans. The problem is that I suspect few food enthusiasts who have not studied the matter can make a clear statement of the difference between the two. It seems as if the classic dishes of the area such as gumbo and jambalaya, as well as a foundation in French cooking techniques are claimed by both heritages.According to the `Oxford Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink', the two cuisines are very similar, and the main distinctions that source can make between the two is that `Creole' is an urban cuisine originating with the earliest Spanish settlers from the 17th century and that `Cajun' (from Arcadian), is a rural cuisine deriving from the French émigrés from Nova Scotia in the late 18th century, after being kicked out by the English following the French and Indian Wars (That little opening act for the American Revolution). And, while both cuisines claim gumbo and jambalaya, etouffee and its principle ingredient, crawfish, seems to be distinctly `Cajun'. A second culinary difference is the greater extent of French influence from Arcadia, a purely French colony. This influence can be seen in the fact that Cajun cooking values balanced, but varied seasoning. It's `signature' cooking technique is braising, which is straight out of the French provincial cooking playbook. This is ironic because `Cajun' cuisine is often associated with very spicy foods; however, much of this `heat' was probably added a scant 25 years ago by the famous Paul Prudhomme of New Orleans, who, I believe, virtually invented the `blackened' cooking technique, most famous with `blackened catfish'.But getting back to this book, my initially cool impression made by the somewhat pretentious introduction was redeemed when I started looking at the recipes. All the recipes are written in a very economical style, with crisp ingredients lists and matter of fact descriptions of procedure. The writing is not the minimalist sparse writing of Elizabeth David in `A Book of Mediterranean Food', but it has few if any `trucs', tips, hints, sidebars, or other accroutremonts of modern cookbook writing. And, it has none of the scholarly observations on origins or variations also found in Ms. David's works. For an experienced cook, this may be a very good thing. It means we have `just the facts, ma'm'. So, an experieced cook can be on their way to reproducing the dishes and fill in the extras where needed. One place a modern cook will especially wish to fill in is in replacing `oleo' with either real butter or a less saturated vegetable oil. In the mid-1980's, we had not heard all the dangers of trans-fats, commonly found in common margerine (oleomargerine).One advantage of the sparse recipe writing style is that the slim 222 page book can contain a very healthy number of recipes, probably numbering close to 250, if you include the supplementary recipes for dressings, sauces, and condiments. And, this healthy number of recipes seems to cover the full range of `Cajun' specialities. The very best thing is that those classic dishes such as gumbo, jambalaya, and etouffee are represented by several variations. From there, it goes all the way from fried oysters to boudon to beignets. I did find some famous preparations missing, such as coffee with chicory, `poor boy' sandwiches, and `mouffelata' (sic) sandwiches, but as none of these are `cooked' dishes, I'll not feel cheated.One thing I like about a cookbook with a lot of recipes for dressings and sauces and condiments is that it adds a great source of information on which one can improvise (See Sally Schneider's new `the improvisational cook'). This book is the perfect source for making a few dishes, then striking out on your own in making `Cajun' style dishes without having to resort to Monsieur Prudhomme or Monsieur Lagasse.The book was very nicely organized and will stand up to some serious stints in the kitchen. I was also very happy to see tables of contents with all recipes listed at the beginning of each chapter. This is something all cookbooks (other than the monster references) should have. The ony annoyance is that the recipes were not printed in the order they appeared in the table of contents. I have no clue why they were different.But, for a very reasonable list price, we have here an excellent source of basic, authentic `Cajun' recipes with all the essentials and none of the frills.

This Orange County, Calif girl married a Cajun 30 years ago and this is an authentic collection of recipes from that part of the country. Every Thanksgiving my husband's family requests that I make Rice Dressing (also known as dirty rice). The recipe I use is from this book and over the years I've tweaked the recipe some but it's delicious as is. I was never exposed to certain ingredients (chicken gizzards, hearts) and I don't include the chicken liver but don't turn up your nose until you've tried it! My secret to the gizzards & hearts is cooking them in the crock pot all night, then massacre them in the food processor so they are unrecognizable. My husband likes his food very spicy so I came up with a spice blend of three peppers, cayenne, white & black, as well as garlic powder. He usually sneaks in after it's finished and adds more cayenne so I have to keep an eye out that he doesn't spice it up too much for the family! Delicious recipes to try for the Cajun in your life!

Nicely packaged -- arrived exactly as described and in great condition -- thanks!

I was wanting a cook book with authentic Cajun recipes. Being Cajun myself and not living in & amongst Acadians anymore, I cherish my families recipes. The traditional Cajun way is the best.

This is a good primer in real Cajun Cuisine. The recipe for Tarte Ala boullie is worth the price of the cookbook alone. This is a custard pie with a risen, sweetened crust. Le Gateau Au Vin, or Cake of wine is also an excellent dessert as is the fig cake which is so sticky, and sweet that even after one puts plenty of flour down on the pan, it still sticks to the pan. I say this is a good primer, because many of the recipes are simple, but they provide a good beginning when creating a dish. For example, there is a recipe for beef and cabbage jambalaya which is simply ground beef, cabbage, and rice, but it gave me the idea to kick it up a few knotches. I use beef stew meat that I cut by hand, real homemade beef stock, bay leaf, and tomato. I created an excellent dish based on the original. Of course, there are plenty of very good shrimp recipes in this cookbook. Corn soup with shrimp, shrimp sauce picante, and shrimp potato balls all turned out to be recipes worth repeating. The only bad part about this book would be that even bad Cajun recipes are included. One was chicken-okra gumbo. It was so heavy on the okra that it became a bowl of slime. No one, not Justin Wilson, or even Emeril Lagasse know how to properly cook okra. Unless it is to be fried, okra should never be sliced. It should always be cooked whole to prevent the sliminess that repels most people from eating okra. I also believe that only butter should be used when making a roux, and in a dish like gumbo file, it should be cooked a day ahead of time, and refrigerated. The following day the grease should be spooned off the top before reheating, and serving.

This is my go-to gift for those who cook. Having bought the cook book myself, I love the recipes in it. Worth a buy!

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS BOOK! It was initially bought for me as a gift and I lost it in a move. I bought it again and lent it to a friend, I felt so lost without it I had to purchase it again. Everything that I have made came out delicious! I have learned si much from this book.

This cookbook is in near pristine condition. Not the first stain, scratch nor scribble. Love it!My only issue was the delivery. Driver crammed it hard I to the mailbox , which it shouldn't have been crammed into. NOT the sellers fault.

Not sure if i'll ever cook anything in it but at least i know that if anyone ever gives me a dead Turtle or a dead Dove i'll know how to cook it :)

loved it

excellent recomended many thanks

tried several recipes - a good book

great Cajun recepies