Cajun & Creole?

Question

What's the difference between Cajun and Creole cooking?

Answer 1

Creole cooking has a lot of Carribean and Jamican influences. Tomatoes and okra are used lot, along with peppers and spices. Cajun cooking is very rustic, using ingredients found on the land, with some French influences. Alot of recipes are roux based. Both styles are found in Louisiana, and some recipes incorporate bits from both. Creole cooking in Louisiana is found mostly in New Orleans.

Answer 2

Cajun and Creole both come from Louisiana and both have French, and Spanish influences. The Cajuns are descended from refugees from Acadia (now Nova Scotia) who resettled in the Louisiana swamps in the 18th century. They intermarried with the French and Spanish settlers already in the area and also with the Native Americans there. Creoles, on the other hand, are descended from French and Spanish settlers in Louisiana and intermingled more with African-Americans.

Cajun food is spicier, tends to have more unusual ingredients (Alligator Sauce Piquant, anyone?) and sauces are based more on just a dark roux (flour cooked with oil until a deep dark brown. Creole food is actually NOT spicy, is more sophisticated (city food) and uses more tomatoes in the sauce. Cajuns also have a tendency to like the sweet with the spicy - every Cajun I know puts a lot of sugar in their cornbread and most put sugar in things like white beans!

The popularity of Louisiana cooking has blurred the lines between the two styles some but there is a difference. Good example of a Cajun cookbook is anything by Paul Prudhomme or Justin Wilson. Good example of a Creole cookbook is La Bouche Creole by Leon Soniat, Jr. Pick up one of each and make gumbo and jambalaya and you will see that they are pretty different.

Happy Mardi Gras, y'all. And Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez!

Answer 3

Creole is more Distinguished with French and Spanish influences. Usually found more in gourmet restaurants.