FistFullaRoux

Yeah, but it's one of those tourist things like Cafe Du Monde or Space Mountain. Touristy or not, you'd still kick yourself if you didn't go at least once while you were there.

The reason hot peppers weren't usually used in a dish is another Cajun eccentricity. Most times, you do final seasoning at the table. Now, way back when, before the bottles and jars, they may have used some of the fresh peppers. But since the bottled stuff has become better and more widely available, most dishes are seasoned to the lowest common denominator, and you can add salt and Tabasco to your heart's content at the table. It's a matter of everyone being able to enjoy the meal. Even those with more timid palates. My wife (from Alabama) eats her rice plain with a little butter. My mom raises an eyebrow, but says that it's OK, as long as it makes her happy.

Wow. Go out of town for a weekend, and look what pops up on eGullet. Here's my .02 You have to remember that New Orleans and Cajun are pretty exclusive of each other, although there has been a blurring of the lines recently. A few of things to keep in mind... - New Orleans is not Cajun. You may be able to get Cajun in New Orleans, but the overwhelming majority of the food there is Creole. - Cajun food grew out of neccesity. The earliest Cajuns were farmers and trappers for the most part. Whatever got onto the table did so because it was available. - What a lot of people thing of as Cajun is actually Creole. Anything with pasta, cream or the mother sauces, red beans, bread pudding, most of the pastries, and so on. - To be considered strictly Cajun, you have to look at the flavor base. Normally, it is either roux or the trinity as mentioned above. Lots of smoked or cured pork, and seafood found in the rivers or the Gulf of Mexico. - The basis of Cajun food goes back to the 1700's when the Acadians landed in south Louisiana. The gravies, soups, jambalayas, etoufees, and everything else revolves around trying to stretch whatever protien they could get in order to feed the family. That's why rice was so important. You could add a fairly simple sauce or gravy to the rice and feed 10 people on 1 chicken. - You rarely see fresh hot peppers in a dish. Tabasco, yes. Ground cayenne, yes. But you generally won't see a hot pepper cut up into the dish, traditionally. - Cajun food is not blisteringly hot. It may have a kick, but should not send you into a round of hiccups. It took me a long time to be proud of where I come from. (Abbeville, LA in Vermilion Parish - if anyone has a map, Marcelle Beinvenue's home town.) I grew up in the heart of the Cajun culture. I was spoiled by the astounding seafood we had growing up. I had to move away to really appreciate what was there. I never lerned French, but I should have. I'm trying to teach myself now. I'd hate to see it go away. The older I get, the more Cajun I become.

Same reason I listened to Eddie Van Halen and Eric Clapton when I was trying to play guitar. You learn by observing those who do it well.

I've also found that if you put the pot off center of the burner (carefully) while simmering, the fat will tend to migrate to the cooler end. Give it a couple of minutes, then remove with a ladle or spoon. This is good for getting the majority out pretty quickly. I've also put the heaviest spoon or ladle I could get (metal is required) into ice water first. The cold spoon will congeal the fat quickly, and can allow you to pour the stuff you want to keep back in. You cannot submerge the spoon or keep the spoon in the hot liquid too long - more than a second or two. This will help get the last of it. It takes some practice but it works. This works much better once the dish has had a chance to cool off a bit. Lukewarm is best.

As far as real New Orleans style food, I actually found a legitimate place. Little New Orleans on Hwy 280 in Inverness. Very good stuff, if a bit pricey. Speaking of Lakeview, I'm a fan of Bombay Cafe' They do really good work there. Anyone eat at the Culinard place? Been meaning to go, just haven't had a chance to do it.

My wife and I have a deal. Whoever cooks, the other one does KP duty. I don't mind splitting it up like that, but dear lord, the woman uses every pan and bowl in the house. How can chicken and dumplings take 4 bowls, three pots, 2 cutting boards, and a baking pan? And if I see her using the pizza cutter directly on the pizza stone agin, I'm going to throw it away... (the cutter, that is)

First, it allows you to control the amount of salt you are adding. Secondly, unsalted butter is usually fresher. The salt acts as a preservative.

Near Alexandria, make a side trip to LeCompte and find Lea's on Hwy 71. IMHO, the best pies around. Around Natchitoches, you can get some fabulous meat pies. Little bundles of perfectly seasoned meat in a flaky.... I digress. See for this thread more info around Lafayette.

It may have started out that way, but the demand is so high that they are using whole potatoes for tots as well. There's only so much scrap from the fry making process.

Yet another in a long line of "Let's find a way to use the rest of this thing" solutions. And that solution is perfect with a Sonic Chili-Cheese Coney. My favorite fast food. Love the little guys, but if I have more than 8-10 of them, they start making me queasy. I just have to pace myself.

That and "because I was eating Kitty Kat every day. " What the hell did his parents let him get into?????

What he said... Plus, I've been able to live vicariously though food blogs and trip reports, and in general get to rub virtual elbows with some pretty cool people. And I said it before... I like it here. The walls are soft.

Deep frying a turkey is not a Louisiana tradition. First time I ever saw one was about 7 or 8 years ago... Regarding southern fried everything - I'm thinking that frying is one of the more efficient cooking methods. You've got this fat that would probably be thrown out anyway - because it would go bad. So you cook something in it trying to get a little more use out of the food. It could be done outside, keeping the inside of the house cool - no heating the cast iron oven, which would stay hot for hours afterward. The fat could be re-used a few times. It provided calories, which for a long time were needed in quantity, no matter how you got them. And most of all, all you needed was a pot. Find some dead branches, make a fire, and you could cook whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted, wherever you wanted.

Saw a recipe last night for Salmonella Essentially, it's salmon with a last minute glaze of nutella mixed with fish stock. Just enough to give a little sugaryness and make a light glaze.

Black eyed peas. Barf-o-rama. Found them in chili once. Waitress thought I was crazy. She told the cook, and he sheepishly admitted that he accidentally added a can of those black eyed peas accidentally, and didn't notice until it was all together and simmering. He didn't think anyone would notice. Wrong, Jocko... And regarding medical stuff, anyone ever had a GI cocktail? As served in emergency rooms, not military bases. The green one. Think Maalox, mixed with lidocaine and donnatal. And I was already in there for a bad stomach problem. Lucky I didn't paint the walls.

But I recently bought an "imported" coke in the big glass bottles at one of our local Mexican restaturants (not Tex-Mex, the real thing), and there was a white paper label stuck to mine that stated the ingredients. Bottled in Mexico, but contained corn syrup - not sugar.

Instead of pouring it over ice cream, make ice cream with it. Replace a can or two worth of the milk or cream with the Dulce de Leche. Proceed as usual...

I like the idea of adding the mustard and the bacon. Try a creole or grainy mustard, and chopped up bacon on the side. Once you mix it in, it'll get soggy. Or try some different kinds of bread.

Just a clarification that Ray Kroc was not the founder of McDonalds, and the Illinios restaurant was not the first. The first McDonald's was in San Bernadino, CA - and Kroc was the first to license that restaurant concept. He was a traveling blender salesman. He initially pitched the idea of franchising it so he could sell more blenders.

My mom likes potato salad sandwiches... I've actually seen Emeril make the chow mein sandwiches - they are a specialty of a restaurant I can't recall at the moment.

I'll refrain from making bad jokes about screwdrivers (think about it....) I do have a name for it... Third Rail

Yeah. That's like if you would accidentally add too much salt on your food. "I oversalted the plate, I want another." If the bug had been decanted from the bottle, or if a chunk of the ceiling falls out and lands in the glass, or if the sommelier had sneezed in it, it's a different matter. If the critter landed in it once it was poured, I think it's just bad luck. Pour another glass and deal with it.

And did Elvis ever burn his goods on a roasting pan? http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=40334

The list as of this moment: subject to change without notice basil garlic onion vanilla citrus