What is the most common Creole food in Louisiana?

In a broad sense, the hinterland of the southern United States refers to five states in the southeastern United States: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. This area belongs to subtropical monsoon climate, with hot and humid summer and mild winter. Abundant rainfall and fertile soil make it an important agricultural reclamation area. The southern hinterland in a narrow sense refers to the lower reaches of the Mississippi River and its estuary, that is, the city of New Orleans and its surrounding areas. This famous cultural city is full of cocktails, revelry, music and delicious food. Especially during the annual carnival, it has become the focus of tourists from all over the United States and even the world.

Masked performers in the carnival parade.

Whenever the carnival comes, tourists from all over the world will flock to it. People drink and revel all night, sing and parade, and enjoy the delicious food in New Orleans and its surrounding areas. Okra seafood soup, assorted rice, crayfish, pudding sausage and other delicacies can be seen everywhere. People are addicted to food, but few people understand the cultural connotation behind it. Why are there two cooking school in Louisiana who seem to be close relatives but have significant differences? Why are some foods labeled as Creole style and others labeled as Cazin style? What's the difference between these two cooking methods? Can they be interchanged or integrated? So, to put it bluntly:

"What's the difference between Creole and Kazan?"

Creole shrimp with mustard and garlic sauce

If we have to give a simple definition to these two cooking styles, it is: Creole is undoubtedly the representative of urban cuisine, and Kazan is obviously synonymous with rural cuisine. Of course, it is obviously not rigorous to describe him only with "official dishes" and "Jianghu dishes" similar to Chinese food. To understand the difference between these two cooking styles, we should start with the historical origin behind them.

French colonists first arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi River to establish a stronghold.

New Orleans is a melting pot of culture and the spiritual home of American Creoles (although it is now occupied by blacks). The beginning of this cultural integration can be traced back to the period of Saint Louisiana in France hundreds of years ago. When the first French and Spanish colonists settled in the mouth of the Mississippi River, they also carried a large number of black and Indian slaves. The lack of family members has led to a large number of illegitimate children and hybrids, which is the first generation of Creole (Creole itself means integration). With the passage of time, the definition of Creole gradually expanded, including the descendants of local indigenous and interracial marriages. Later, after several generations of immigration and reclamation, especially after the end of the Civil War, a large number of immigrants from northern States went deep into the middle and lower reaches of the Mississippi River, and this integration became more acute.

Today, Creoles in the United States are not a nation or ethnic group, but include descendants of former French and Spanish colonists and interracial marriages, hybrids produced by the combination of colonists and slaves, local aborigines, immigrants from northern States and descendants bred by local Creoles. Bottom line: Creoles have their own hybrid genes.

Okra (Okra) is cooked with Trinity sauce.

In this situation, the food cooked by Creoles is naturally all-encompassing, taking the advantages of each family. In New Orleans of the old world, French colonists occupied a dominant position, and its colonial fortress was close to the mouth of the Mississippi River, so Creole cooking style had a strong seafood and French flavor. The clearest and most direct evidence of this is the "Roux" in Creole cuisine, which is a trinity made of green pepper, celery and onion as the main raw materials and then cooked with butter and flour. Thousands of miles away in France, there is a similar cooking method, that is, the three treasures in French cuisine: onion, celery and carrot, which the French call "mirepoix". Therefore, there is no doubt that Creole cuisine is rooted in French cuisine.