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It’s one of those holiday dishes folks shake their heads at, chalking it up to the crazy culinary people of South Louisiana. Even the name brings forth a laugh. The portmanteau word “turducken,” a mash-up of its key ingredient names, takes a well-seasoned, deboned turkey and stuffs it with boneless chicken that’s been stuffed with boneless duck. In between are layers of well-seasoned Cajun-style dressing and pork stuffing.
Leave it to New Orleans, Louisiana to figure out how to party during a pandemic. The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival draws upwards of 475,000 music lovers to the city the each year from the last weekend in April through the first weekend in May for seven days of music, art and food. The festival, which draws obsessed fans from all corners of the globe, took place every year for 50 years. Until 2020, which would have been its 51st.
Louisiana is known as a destination for hunting and fishing excursions—the state’s license plates even read “Sportsman’s Paradise.” With access to the Gulf of Mexico, bayous, rivers and estuaries, Louisiana supports a wide variety of fish for sportsmen to pursue. Yet while many folks love to go fishing and eat seafood, most aren’t interested in the cleaning and cooking chores that are part of a great fish dinner.
Hotsauce.com has more than 50 categories and features over 120 brands of hot sauce from around the globe. While hot sauce has become a major food category and a condiment almost as essential as ketchup these days, it wasn't always that way. There was a time when spicy food in America was credited to the Cajuns of South Louisiana, and Tabasco Brand Pepper Sauce was the leader among pepperheads.
In Louisiana, Creole and Cajun food often get blended together, but the old timers will tell you they are not the same at all. First, they come from two different regions of the state and, second, they include different ingredients. The main distinction between the two is that Creole food has tomatoes and Cajun doesn't, but of course it's a bit more complicated than that.
Crawfish season officially gets under way in early spring, and the bright red crustaceans usually remain in supply through June. The majority of crawfish in North America come from Louisiana, where rice fields are flooded in late summer to make way for the Cajun delicacy. Louisiana leads the nation in crawfish production, with crawfish farms producing more than 100 million pounds a year.
Ever wondered what makes a perfect gumbo, crawfish etouffee or praline? Is the secret in the roux, sauce or seasoning? Find out by signing up for a cooking class in New Orleans, a Louisiana city with 300 years of culinary history.Established in 1980, the New Orleans School of Cooking promises fun, food and folklore. Classes are held in an 1800s renovated molasses warehouse in the French Quarter, where Cajun and Creole experts teach the basics of New Orleans cooking, blended with history and tall tales.
It took about 24 hours. By that time, I was hopelessly, helplessly in love. Luckily my husband felt the same way. We swooned at every sultry bite of andouille sausage in our freshly prepared jambalaya. “I could eat this every week,” I said. He nodded in agreement, mouth too full to speak. My love affair with New Orleans, Louisiana, was not unexpected. The cuisine has been my undisputed favorite for decades. You’d think with such high expectations, New Orleans would disappoint, but instead, the grand dame of a city surpassed them all.
