wrote in message
...
On Thu, 13 Dec 2007 08:53:30 -0600, Conan The Librarian
wrote:

So how would you suggest that a newcomer to Cajun food learn how to
cook it? I figure recipes might be a handy substitute for those of us
who don't have relatives who came over on the boats from Acadia.

Look at the general array of flavoring ingredients and techniques used
and go from there. There's nothing wrong with following a precise
recipe, but since most Cajun and Creole cooks really don't, there's no
reason that a person who is at least moderately familiar with food,
herbs and spices, and cooking should, either.

But perhaps most importantly, unlike, for example, baking, there really
isn't _a_ recipe for most dishes, so even if you and Bill were to find
recipes from two different sources and prepare them exactly as intended,
you would almost certainly have something somewhat different from Bill
although both preparations would likely be broadly similar. Take, for
example, the aforementioned "Shrimp Creole" - some "recipes" (family
"recipes") start with a medium brown roux and some don't use any roux at
all, but all are basically Creole mirepoix and tomatoes, thyme, garlic,
etc., and shrimp over rice.

You know, oddly, with repetition, this is all starting to sound vaguely
familiar. I mean, I can't speak for anyone else here, but to me this looks
suspiciously like what cooks do in out of the way places like Italy, France,
Great Britain, Germany, Denmark, Sptizbergen, Swaziland, Sumatra, West
Allis, Sierra Leone, Canada, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Mongolia, Angola, Liberia,
Poland, Colombia, Archangel, Portugal, suburban Geneva, Georgia (no, the
other one), Greenland, Delhi (the city, not the sandwich shop......well,
o.k., maybe that too), Kamchatka, Kansas City, Khartoum, Kenosha, Kankakee,
Bolivia, Honduras, Hawaii, Terre Haute, Tahiti, Tangiers, Tanzania, Potch
Chee Nunk, Pittsburgh, Potsdam, Panama, Cairo, Cairo (most definitely NOT
the same place.....as anyone who has been forced to stay there for a weekend
by virtue of car trouble can attest!), Wellington, Washington, Westphalen,
West Allis (yeah, it's worth going back to......trust me), West by God
Virginia, Colonial Williamsburg (gotta love their Christmas coffee table
book!), Peru (no, the other one), Haiti, Cuba, Bermuda, Easter Island,
Christmas Island, Nomanisan Island, North Korea, South Korea, Chic Korea
(where all the smart shoppers go!), Vietnam, Vincennes, Vatican City,
Versailles (rhymes with Lauderdale's), Fort Lauderdale (see "Versailles"),
Chippendale's, Fort Atkinson, Fort Worth, Woolworth's, and Tiddly on the
Marsh. Which is to say that those who grew up there almost certainly did.
Others, maybe not.

HTH., really.

HOO! HOO!
HOO! HOO!
HOO! HOO!

Wolfgang
o.k., yeah, canada is a bit of a stretch.......call it culinary license.