Louisiana Creole cuisine (, , ) is a style of cooking originating in Louisiana, United States, which blends West African, French, Spanish, and Native American influences, as well as influences from the general cuisine of the Southern United States.
Creole cuisine revolves around influences found in Louisiana from populations present there before its sale to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.
The term Creole describes the population of people in French colonial Louisiana which consisted of the descendants of the French and Spanish, and over the years the term grew to include Acadians, Germans, Caribbeans, native-born slaves of African descent as well as those of mixed racial ancestry.
Creole food is a blend of the various cultures that found their way to Louisiana including French, Spanish, Acadian, Caribbean, West African, German and Native American, among others.
History
The Picayune Creole Cook Book has been described as "an authentic and complete account of the Creole kitchen". It was published in 1900 during a time when former slaves and their descendants were moving North. Local newspapers warned that when the last of the "race of Creole cooks" left New Orleans "the secrets of the Louisiana Kitchen" would be lost.
The recipes published in the cookbook were compiled by an unknown staffer at the Daily Picayune, who said the recipes came directly from "the old Creole 'mammies'". Since its initial publication it has been released in 16 subsequent editions with few alterations to the original recipes.
Both Creole and Cajun cuisine draw from French cooking traditions adapted to Louisiana's resources and influences; however, Creole cuisine is stereotypically considered more "city food" while Cajun cuisine is considered simpler "country food."
Classic Creole dishes
Appetizers
Oysters Bienville
Oysters en brochette
Oysters Rockefeller
Shrimp remoulade
Soups
Bisque
Gumbo
Turtle soup
Main dishes
Chicken Creole
Creole Chicken Fricassée
Creole baked chicken
Crawfish étouffée
Grillades
Jambalaya
Mirliton
Pompano en papillote
Red beans and rice
Rice and gravy
Gumbo
Shrimp bisque
Shrimp creole
Smothered pork chops
Trout a la meunière
Side dishes
Red beans
Dirty rice
Smothered green beans with sausage and potatoes
Desserts
Sugar first arrived in Louisiana from Santo Domingo in the mid-1700s. Sugarcane could be chewed plain, and it was not until 1795 that Etienne de Bore mastered the process of crystallizing sugar at his plantation (present day Audubon Park) in New Orleans.
Sugar began to replace cotton as the local cash crop and by 1840 the state was home to over 1,500 sugar mills and by 1860 over 300,000 slaves worked in various aspects of sugar production. Slave labor was needed not only in the fields, but also supported agricultural activities in other skilled roles like carpentry and metalworking. Louisiana accounted for around 90% of all national sugar production in the antebellum era.
One of the tradition southern desserts of the antebellum era was Sally Lunn bread. Made with butter and eggs, the bread had a texture similar to cake. During the Civil War, when some staple ingredients were unavailable, southern cooks substituted cornflour, rice flour or potatoes for wheat flour, and honey for sugar.
Creole cuisine is known for desserts like king cake, praline, and sweet dough pie. Regional desserts feature local fruits and nuts, such as berries, figs and pecans. In the early 20th century cane syrup became a staple ingredient, and is used in recipes for pecan pie, gingerbread, spice cookies, and gateau de sirop, or served plain with pancakes or hot buttermilk biscuits, similar to maple syrup in the cuisine of New England.
Bananas Foster
Beignets
Doberge cake
Banana pudding
Bread pudding
Beverages
Café Brûlot
Café au lait
Chicory coffee
Ramos gin fizz
Sazerac cocktail
Vieux Carré
Brandy milk punch
Breakfast
Calas
Eggs Sardou
Grits and grillades
French toast (, or "lost bread") Beignet