Editing American cuisine (section)

====Cajun and Creole cuisine of Louisiana====
[[File:Shrimp_gumbo.jpg|thumbnail|Shrimp [[gumbo]] is a popular [[Cajun cuisine|Cajun]] and [[Louisiana Creole cuisine|Creole]] dish.]]
In Louisiana, cooking methods have more in common with rustic French cuisines of the 17th and 18th century than anything ever found at the French court in Versailles or the bistros of 19th- and 20th-century Paris; this is especially true of [[Cajun cuisine]].

[[Cajun French]] is more closely related to dialects spoken in Northern [[Maine]], [[New Brunswick]], and to a lesser degree [[Haiti]] than anything spoken in modern France, and likewise their terminology, methodology, and culture concerning food is much more closely related to the styles of these former French colonies even today.

Unlike other areas of the South, Cajuns were and still are largely Catholics and thus much of what they eat is seasonal; for example pork is an important component of the Cajun ''boucherie'' (a large community event where the hog is butchered, prepared with a fiery spice mix, and eaten snout to tail) but it is never consumed in the five weeks of Lent, when such would be forbidden.

Cajun cuisine tends to focus on what is locally available, historically because Cajuns were often poor, illiterate, independent farmers and not plantation owners but today it is because such is deeply imbedded in local culture.

''[[Boudin]]'' is a type of sausage found only in this area of the country, and it is often by far more spicy than anything found in France or Belgium. ''[[Chaudin]]'' is unique to the area, and the method of cooking is comparable to the Scottish dish haggis: the stuffing includes onions, rice, bell peppers, spices, and pork sewn up in the stomach of a pig, and served in slices piping hot.

[[Procambarus clarkii|Crawfish]] are a staple of the Cajun grandmother's cookpot, as they are abundant in the bayous of Southern Louisiana and a main source of livelihood, as are [[blue crab]]s, [[shrimp]], [[corn on the cob]], and red potatoes, since these are the basic ingredients of the Louisiana crawfish boil.

[[File:CreoleFood.jpg|thumb|left|Dishes typical of [[Louisiana Creole cuisine]]]]
[[New Orleans]] has been the capital of Creole culture since before Louisiana was a state. This culture is that of the colonial French and Spanish that evolved in the city of New Orleans, which was and still is quite distinct from the rural culture of Cajuns and dovetails with what would have been eaten in antebellum Louisiana plantation culture long ago.

Cooking to impress and show one's wealth was a staple of Creole culture, which often mixed French, Spanish, Italian, German, African, Caribbean and Native American cooking methods, producing rich dishes like [[Oysters Bienville|oysters bienville]], [[pompano en papillote]], and even the [[muffaletta]] sandwich.

However, [[Louisiana Creole cuisine]] tends to diverge from the original ideas brought to the region in ingredients: [[profiterole]]s, for example, use a near identical [[choux pastry]] to that which is found in modern Paris but often use vanilla or chocolate ice cream rather than custard as the filling, [[praline (nut confection)|pralines]] nearly always use [[pecan]] and not almonds, and [[bananas foster]] came about when New Orleans was a key port for the import of bananas from the Caribbean Sea.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/cuisine/traditionalfoods/bananasfoster.html|title=Bananas Foster|publisher=Neworleansonline.com|access-date=January 16, 2015|archive-date=October 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171028224830/http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/cuisine/traditionalfoods/bananasfoster.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Gumbo]]s tend to be thickened with [[okra]], or the leaves of the [[sassafras albidum|sassafrass tree]]. ''[[Andouille]]'' is often used, but not the ''andouille'' currently known in France, since French ''andouille'' uses tripe whereas Louisiana ''andouille'' is made from a [[Boston butt]], usually inflected with pepper flakes, and smoked for hours over pecan wood.

Other ingredients that are native to Louisiana and not found in the cuisine of modern France would include rice, which has been a staple of both Creole and Cajun cooking for generations, and [[sugarcane]], which has been grown in Louisiana since the early 1800s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usarice.com/doclib/188/219/3677.PDF |title=Louisiana Rice |publisher=Usarice.com |access-date=January 16, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141222045727/http://www.usarice.com/doclib/188/219/3677.PDF |archive-date=December 22, 2014 }}</ref>

[[File:Passiflora incarnata 004.JPG|thumbnail|The maypop plant]]
Ground [[cayenne pepper]] is a key spice of the region, as is the meat of the [[American alligator]], something settlers learned from the Choctaws and Houma. The maypop plant has been a favorite of Southerners for 350 years; it gives its name to the Ocoee River in Tennessee, a legacy of the Cherokees, and in Southern Louisiana it is known as ''liane de grenade'', indicating its consumption by Cajuns. It is a close relative of the commercial [[passionfruit]], similar in size, and is a common plant growing in gardens all over the South as a source of fresh summertime fruit.