Editing Cajun cuisine (section)

==Ingredients==
{{More citations needed section|date=April 2025}}
In the late 18th century, about the same time that Acadian musicians embraced the Spanish guitar, spices from the [[Iberian Peninsula]] were adopted in the Acadian cuisine. With the cross-cultural borrowing that took place between them and their neighbors in southern Louisiana, Acadians were eating African okra and American Indian corn by the time of the [[Louisiana Purchase]] (1803) in such dishes as ''gumbo'', ''pain de maïs'', and ''soupe de maïs'', which did not closely resemble the African and Indian versions.<ref name="Brasseaux1987 a">{{cite book |last1=Brasseaux |first1=Carl A |title=Cajuns: Their History and Culture |date=1987 |publisher=National Park service |pages=269–270 |url=https://archive.org/details/cajunstheirhisto11987hami/page/268/mode/2up?view=theater}}</ref>

The following is a partial list of ingredients used in Cajun cuisine and some of the [[Staple food|staple ingredients]] of the Acadian food culture.

===Meat and seafood===
Cajun [[foodways]] include many ways of preserving meat, some of which are waning due to the availability of refrigeration and [[Mass production|mass-produced]] meat at the grocer. Smoking of meats remains a fairly common practice, but once-common preparations such as turkey or [[duck confit]] (preserved in poultry fat, with spices) are now seen even by Acadians as quaint rarities.

Game (and hunting) are still uniformly popular in Acadiana.

The recent increase of [[catfish]] [[Aquaculture of catfish|farming]] in the [[Mississippi Delta]] has brought about an increase in its usage in Cajun cuisine in place of the more traditional wild-caught [[Cynoscion nebulosus|speckled trout]].

* ''[[Andouille]]''—a spicy smoked pork sausage, characterized by a coarse-ground texture and large-diameter casing.
* ''[[Boudin]]''—a cooked sausage made with green onions, pork, and rice, and usually a large amount of ground pork or chicken livers. Boudin may be thought of as "dirty rice in a casing." Some locals prefer to eat the sausage with the casing on, while others squeeze the contents out. Boudin filling is completely cooked before being stuffed into casings and may be consumed immediately after purchase, although it is also popularly grilled at cookouts. Pork blood is sometimes added to produce ''boudin rouge''. Other versions can contain seafood, such as crawfish.
* ''Chaurice'', a sausage similar to Spanish ''[[chorizo]]''
* ''[[Chaudin]]'' or ''ponce''—a pig's stomach, stuffed with spiced pork & smoked.
* [[Ham hock]]s
* Wild boar or feral hog
* [[Head cheese]]
* [[Cracklings|Gratons]]—hog cracklings or pork rinds; fried, seasoned pork fat & skin, sometimes with small bits of meat attached. Similar to Spanish ''[[Chicharrón|chicharrones]]''.
* [[New Orleans hot sausage]]—<nowiki/>a spiced pork or beef sausage characterized by a reddish color.
* Pork sausage (fresh)—distinctively seasoned and usually smoked, this sausage is often used in gumbos as is andouille, but it may also be grilled or pan-cooked to produce a rice and gravy dish. The sausage itself does not include rice, separating it from ''boudin''. In Cajun country, a distinction exists between this sausage, which is simply called "pork sausage," is finer ground, and uses smaller pork casings, and the similar andouille, which has a coarser grind and larger beef casings.
* [[Salt pork]]
* [[Tasso ham|Tasso]]—a highly seasoned, smoked pork shoulder

'''Beef and dairy'''<br>
Though parts of Acadiana are well suited to cattle or [[dairy farming]], beef is not often used in a pre-processed or uniquely Cajun form. It is usually prepared fairly simply as chops, stews, or steaks, taking a cue from Texas to the west. Ground beef is used as is traditional throughout the US, although seasoned differently.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

Dairy farming is not as prevalent as in the past, but there are still some farms in the business. There are no unique dairy items prepared in Cajun cuisine. Traditional Cajun and New Orleans Creole-influenced desserts are common.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

[[File:Old Cajun Woman reaches for Garlic 1938.jpg|right|thumb|Cajun woman reaching for strings of garlic suspended from rafters. Near [[Crowley, Louisiana]], 1938.]]

===Seasonings===
* Onion (bell pepper, onion, and celery used together are known as the "holy trinity" of Cajun cuisine)<ref name="Miller2021">{{cite web |last1=Miller |first1=V. Todd |title=For whom the bell grows: A brief history of the Cajun holy trinity |url=https://www.lsuagcenter.com/articles/page1621432197656 |website=LSU AgCenter |access-date=20 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520162845/https://www.lsuagcenter.com/articles/page1621432197656 |archive-date=May 20, 2021 |date=19 May 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Thyme, sage, mint, marjoram, savory, and basil are considered sweet herbs. In colonial times a [[herbes de Provence]] would be several sweet herbs tied up in a [[muslin]].<ref name="Hearn1885">{{cite book |last1=Hearn |first1=Lafcadio |title=La Cuisine Creole |date=1885 |publisher=F. F. Hansell & Bro., Ltd. |location=New Orleans |page=5 |url=http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/cookbooks/books/cuisinecreole/creo.html |access-date=September 25, 2014 |archive-date=February 11, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160211224705/http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/cookbooks/books/cuisinecreole/creo.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Blended====
* "Creole/Cajun spice" blends such as [[Tony Chachere's]] are sometimes used in Cajun kitchens, but do not suit every cook's style because Creole- and Cajun-style seasoning is often achieved from scratch, even by taste.{{cn|date=October 2024}}<div style="line-height: 0.22em;">{{nbsp}}</div>
:Cajun seasonings consist of a blend of salt with a variety of spices, most common being cayenne pepper and garlic. The spicy heat comes from the cayenne pepper, while other flavors come from bell pepper, paprika, green onions, parsley and more.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Peterson |first1=Jenny |title= Louisiana Life |journal= Chachere's Creole Foods |date= July 2014 |volume=34 |issue=6 |page=8}}</ref>

===Cooking bases===
* Dark [[roux]]—Cajuns inherited roux from the French. However, unlike the French, theirs is made with oil or [[bacon]] fat and more lately with [[olive oil]], and not normally with butter. It is used as a thickening agent, especially in gumbo and ''[[étouffée]]''.<div style="line-height: 0.22em;">{{nbsp}}</div>
:Preparation of a dark roux is probably the most involved or complicated procedure in Cajun cuisine,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Les Vingt |first1=Quatre Club |title= First-- you make a roux |date=1954 |publisher= Les Vingt Quatre Club |location= Lafayette, La |page=47}}</ref> involving heating fat and flour very carefully, constantly stirring for about 15–45 minutes (depending on the color of the desired product), until the mixture has darkened in color and developed a nutty flavor. The temperature should not be too high, as a burnt roux renders a dish unpalatable.
* Light roux—The secret to making a good gumbo is pairing the roux with the protein.{{citation needed|date=March 2012}} A dark roux, with its strong (dense) nutty flavor will completely overpower a simple seafood gumbo, but is the perfect complement to a gumbo using chicken, sausage, crawfish or alligator.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hand|first1=Edie|title=Cajun and Creole cooking with Miss Edie and the Colonel: The folklore and art of Louisiana cooking|date=2007|publisher=Cumberland House Pub.|location=Nashville, Tenn.|pages=1–281}}</ref><div style="line-height: 0.22em;">{{nbsp}}</div>
:A light roux, on the other hand, is better suited for strictly seafood dishes and unsuitable for meat gumbos for the reason that it does not support the heavier meat flavor as well. Pairing roux with protein follows the same orthodox philosophy as pairing wine with protein.
* [[Stock (food)|Stocks]]: Cajun stocks are more heavily seasoned than Continental counterparts, and the shellfish stock sometimes made with shrimp and crawfish heads is unique to Cajun cuisine.