Guest Author - Jenny Lane
With this being the 5th anniversary of Katrina devastating parts of New Orleans, I am reminded of the deep southern traditions in that beautiful city. There are so many wonderful and traditional recipes that come out of New Orleans…thought I would take this time to share some of their food traditions with you.
I think one of the most well known foods of New Orleans would be Gumbo. The word Gumbo came from the Bantu word for Okra (Nkombo). The Okra plant, a favorite in Africa, is actually a Middle Eastern plant that was brought to America by the Portuguese traders. File…(File Gumbo) is actually ground Sassafras leaves, which is Native American. As you can see, Gumbo is a multi- cultural food…just like the City of New Orleans is multi-cultural.
There are several “roux” used to build your gumbo. depending where you are when you eat it. For an example, there is a black roux that is popular west of the Atchafalaya Basin. Great crawfish come out of the Atchafalaya River. Southeast Louisiana prefers a lighter roux and many add tomatoes.
It was the Native Americans that introduced Southern Louisiana to grits, corn bread, deer, turkey, fish and squash. Africans brought okra, yams, peanuts, collards and hot peppers. Europeans brought carrots, turnips beets, cabbage and lettuce. All these foods landed in the big melting pot of Southern Louisiana. Creole French was and still is a major influence in southern cooking. They made meat pies and Cane River cakes with many breads made in the form of Catholic symbols.
The French brought the delicious Etouffee and many variations of bisque. Pralines were introduced along with French bread and that delicious little Beignet. the French version of a donut…served with confectioners sugar sprinkled on top.
The favorite sandwich of New Orleans is the Muffuletta—a large sandwich filled with several meats, cheeses and an olive spread.
During Crawfish season, there is nothing better than the Crawfish Boil! Crawfish boiled in a large, sugar cane black wrought iron pot, with corn on the cob and new potatoes. Spread newspaper on picnic tables, pour the crawfish and veggies on the table and start popping the tails and sucking the heads of that Southern Louisiana delicacy.
The old New Orleans restaurants like Antoine’s, Court of Two Sisters, and Brennan’s…served up some of the best traditional New Orleans foods in the area. The beauty of the restaurants and their courtyards was enough to make a meal there perfect, but added to it was the delectable foods placed on the tables from each of those restaurants.
So, when reflecting on the anniversary of Katrina, please don’t forget that many of the foods you all enjoy today, were part of the New Orleans tradition…a city of many different cultures and people. New Orleans is surviving and will remain an important part of Southern Cultures especially in our kitchens all over this country.
