Cooking With Cajun

Each different group of people in the world generally has their own way of preparing food, and their own individual style is shown within the food they cook. A perfect example of this is shown within the Cajun cooking world. Although each chef within the Cajun cooking world may have their own individuality, there are certain characteristics, which every chef will have.

The two main ingredients of Cajun food are Black and Cayenne pepper. Add to this a different number of spices that have a variety of ‘spice factor’ and you have Cajun. It’s necessary to add the spices in order for the food to have a piquant taste. The food content of a dish is of equal importance to the preparation for a Cajun chef.

You will find that Gumbo’s and rice are the main dishes of Cajun. Jambalaya, Stews, Soups, Fricassees and Grillades are also examples of popular dishes. It’s quite common that a Cajun chef may use such seafood’s such as crab or lobster when preparing meals. Other ingredients may include vegetables and herbs such as basil.

Both red and white meats are a big part of Cajun cooking as well such as lamb and chicken. It’s the actual style of cooking that contributes to the wonderful taste of Cajun cooking. Rather than cooking each meat etc individually it can be quite common for the chef to cook everything together in one big dish. It’s dependant upon the number of spices added as to the amount of ‘zest’ there will be in the taste.

Another important ingredient that is used is clarified butter, which is made when the milk solids and water are removed. The reason this type of butter is used is because of its high cooking point. Finally another ingredient that is used is roux which adds thickness to the gravies and gumbo’s.

A Cajun chef likes to use freshly picked vegetables and also freshly caught meat when preparing food. It’s the freshness along with the afore mentioned peppers that help create such a tasty meal.

It’s the work of the Cajun chef that has attracted so many normal people to the lovely taste of Cajun food. Each individual chef will generally have their own distinctive style when cooking and whilst we may not live up to there preparation standards it’s possible to attempt with all of the foods at our disposal.