What Is the Difference Between Creole and Cajun Food?

[MULTIZ321]

What Is the Difference Between Creole and Cajun Food?
By Jordana Cohen/ Food-News/ New Orleans/ Mardi Gras/ Cajun/ Chowhound/ chowhound.com

"Mardi Gras is swiftly approaching, and with that celebratory holiday comes the consumption of all the amazing dishes that come out of the Big Easy and surrounding lands. Jambalaya, etouffee, crawfish everywhere…truly, you can’t go wrong. Whether it’s Creole or Cajun food, whatever you’re chowing down on is bound to be delicious. However, when it comes to Louisiana cooking, does it matter whether it’s called Cajun or Creole? Are those terms interchangeable? What’s the difference, if any, between Creole and Cajun cooking? The answer, it turns out, is important. And don’t dare mix those terms up amongst native Cajun and Creole down in Louisiana.

If you want a simple answer, there is one: Creole is city food and Cajun is country food. Creole cooking uses tomatoes, Cajun cooking does not. There. Now go about your day.

Of course, there’s more to it than that, and even a few blurred lines. But if you really want to get into the details, there are a lot of important nuances between the people (yes, Cajun and Creole describe both people and cuisine) and their food, and a lot of the influence on the food has to do with the history of the settlement of Louisiana itself....."

Richard

 

[CanuckTravlr]

A very interesting article. There are definite cultural and historical ties between the Maritime Provinces of Canada and Cajun Louisiana. Les Acadiens (the Acadians) still have a strong culture today in what was once the French colony of Acadia. It comprised much of current day PEI, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the Gaspé region of Québec. Most of them were early farmers and fishermen that came from France in the 17th century, many from the northern provinces of Normandy and Brittany. You can see some of that influence in their cuisine in Louisiana, such as the corn, sausages and seafood.

Most of Acadia was captured from the French during the War of the Spanish Succession and ceded to Great Britain under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Some Acadians refused to swear a formal oath of allegiance to the British Crown and some even continued to collaborate with French forces in Québec and Louisbourg, particularly during the Seven Years' War/ The French and Indian War.

As a result, in 1755 the British Governor and Council of Nova Scotia, in consultation with the Governors of several other British American provinces, finally decided to expel them. It was ostensibly to prevent further collaboration, but the expulsion did not distinguish between collaborators and those that had sworn an oath of allegiance. This was despite the fact most had remained loyal and only wished to be left in peace. The expulsion happened primarily between 1755 and 1764. Up to 80% of the Acadians were expelled to the other 13 British American colonies, as well as to Britain and France.

Many expelled Acadians eventually found their way to Louisiana from the other colonies and even from Britain and France, as one of the few remaining places where French/Spanish culture continued in North America outside of British control. The famous, romantic poem "Evangeline", by American Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, is a fictionalized story of the Acadian expulsion. Without the expulsion there would also not likely be a Cajun presence or cuisine in New Orleans or Louisiana and we would all be the poorer for it.

 

[MULTIZ321]

A very interesting article. There are definite cultural and historical ties between the Maritime Provinces of Canada and Cajun Louisiana. Les Acadiens (the Acadians) still have a strong culture today in what was once the French colony of Acadia. It comprised much of current day PEI, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the Gaspé region of Québec. Most of them were early farmers and fishermen that came from France in the 17th century, many from the northern provinces of Normandy and Brittany. You can see some of that influence in their cuisine in Louisiana, such as the corn, sausages and seafood.

Most of Acadia was captured from the French during the War of the Spanish Succession and ceded to Great Britain under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Some Acadians refused to swear a formal oath of allegiance to the British Crown and some even continued to collaborate with French forces in Québec and Louisbourg, particularly during the Seven Years' War/ The French and Indian War.

As a result, in 1755 the British Governor and Council of Nova Scotia, in consultation with the Governors of several other British American provinces, finally decided to expel them. It was ostensibly to prevent further collaboration, but the expulsion did not distinguish between collaborators and those that had sworn an oath of allegiance. This was despite the fact most had remained loyal and only wished to be left in peace. The expulsion happened primarily between 1755 and 1764. Up to 80% of the Acadians were expelled to the other 13 British American colonies, as well as to Britain and France.

Many expelled Acadians eventually found their way to Louisiana from the other colonies and even from Britain and France, as one of the few remaining places where French/Spanish culture continued in North America outside of British control. The famous, romantic poem "Evangeline", by American Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, is a fictionalized story of the Acadian expulsion. Without the expulsion there would also not likely be a Cajun presence or cuisine in New Orleans or Louisiana and we would all be the poorer for it.

Thanks for the history lesson about Les Acadiens.

Richard

 

[CanuckTravlr]

Thanks, Richard. I thought the original article you posted is one of the best explanations I have ever read of the differences between Creole and Cajun. Thanks again for posting it.