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SOME KEY INGREDIENTS FOR LOUISIANA CUISINE
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Of the rich, complex Creole cuisine of New Orleans and the homey,
country-style Cajun cuisine of Acadiana (French Louisiana) rely
heavily on many ingredients that are made and grown locally.
Substitutions can be made for some, but if you're going for anything
like the real thing, try to get authentic ingredients. But first, as
my grandmother says ... "First ya make a roux."Roux. Just as it is in
classical French cuisine, roux is a mixture of flour and fat, usually
butter or oil. It is the basis for many Louisiana dishes,
particularly gumbo, but also etouffees, saucepiquantes, and more.
There are three basic types of roux: light (or what the Cajuns ++
call "blond"), medium (or "peanut butter" colored), and dark. There
is white roux also, which is cooked for just a minute to get the
flour taste out, but this is rarely used in Louisiana cooking. For
gumbos, for instance, Creole cooks tend to prefer a blond or medium
roux, where Cajun cooks tend to prefer a very dark roux, which is
wonderfully smoky tasting. (There are, of course, exceptions to
this.) PREPARATION OF ROUX: Preparation of a roux is dependent on
cooking time; the longer you cook, the darker the roux. A blond roux
will only take four or five minutes; a dark roux up to 20 or 25
minutes at high heat, or up to an hour at low heat. Roux must be
stirred constantly to avoid burning. Constantly means not stopping to
answer the phone, let the cat in, or flip the LP record over,and if
you've got to go the bathroom ... hold it in or hand of your whisk or
roux paddle to someone else. If you see black specks in your roux,
you've burned it; throw it out and start over. When you're stirring
your roux, be very careful not to splatter any on you. It's extremely
hot, and it sticks. They don't call it Creole napalm for nothing ...
I have a lovely burn scar on my forearm from last year's Christmas
Eve gumbo, when I got sloppy with the stirring. Certain dishes (like
crawfish etouffee) would benefit from a butter-based roux, but if
you're going to make a dark roux, this will take a longtime. Butter
roux must be cooked at lowto low-medium heat, or the butter will
scorch. Darker roux arebetter suited to being made with oil. If you
know what you're doing, you can make an oil-based roux over
medium-high to highwhisking like hell, and you'll have a beautiful
near-milk-chocolate colored roux in about 20 minutes rather than an
hour. Peanut oil works best for high-heat roux cooking. I'm told that
some home cooks are making roux in the microwave now. "No stirring!",
they say. "It works!" Bah. Humbug. There'sa certain satisfaction to
stirring it by hand that I myself refuse to delegate to a microwave.
Some things simply must be done by hand if you're serious about this.
CRAWFISH: Then, perhaps the next most important indigenous ingredient
... Crawfish. A Louisiana delicacy. Ecrevissein French. Some folks
call 'em" mudbugs", hillbillies (Jed Clampett, for instance) call
'em" crawdads", tourists and Yankees call 'em "crayfish". If you goo
New Orleans and ask for "crayfish", you'll be asked, "Oh hey dawlin',
where ya from?" They are crawfish. Crawfish have a marvelous,
delicate flavor, and the crawfish fat adds a mind-bogglingly
delicious enrichment to sauces and the like. There no substitute for
crawfish; if you want to make crawfish etouffee and you substitute
shrimp, you've made shrimpetouffee. Louisiana does export some of its
crawfish crop (but 90% of it, or about 10 million pounds per year, is
consumed within the state), so some markets around the US do offer
them. BEWARE! Crawfish do not keep well, and if they smell or taste
the least bit "fishy", they're off. Best bet is to have them shipped
live (or the frozen tails) from a source in Louisiana. SEASONINGS AND
MEATS: ANDOUILLE: A spicy Louisiana smoked pork sausage. Not to be
confused with the continental French "andouillette", which is a tripe
sausage and is icky. Hot smoked sausage of any brand can be
substituted, but good andouille is a joy. CREOLE HOT SAUSAGE: Regular
pork sausage from your butcher just won't do. Fortunately,

Submitted By SAM LEFKOWITZ On 08-12-95

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