Cuisine of New Orleans facts for kids

The cuisine of New Orleans is the special way of cooking and the tasty foods found in New Orleans, Louisiana. It's known all over the United States for being very unique! Some dishes were created right here, while others are popular in the city and nearby areas like the Mississippi River Delta. New Orleans food is greatly influenced by Creole, Cajun, and soul food. Also, Seafood is a huge part of many dishes. Famous foods invented in New Orleans include po' boy and muffuletta sandwiches, oysters Rockefeller, and bananas Foster.

What Makes New Orleans Food Special?

Creole Cuisine: A Mix of Cultures

Creoles are descendants of early settlers in Louisiana, especially New Orleans. Before 1803, Louisiana was ruled by France and then Spain. The Creoles were the children born in America to these European settlers. Some Creoles also have West African and Native American family roots. They created a fancy and diverse society in New Orleans.

Creole cuisine is a special blend of French, Spanish, West African, and Native American cooking styles. Later, people from Germany, Italy, and other places also added their ideas. Like French food, Creole dishes often use rich sauces and fancy cooking methods. Common ingredients include onions, bell peppers, celery, tomatoes, and okra.

Cajun Cuisine: Hearty and Flavorful

The Cajuns are descendants of the Acadians, who were French-Canadian colonists. They were forced to leave their homes by the British and many settled in rural southern Louisiana in the 1760s and 1770s. Cajuns spoke their own kind of French.

Cajun cuisine also has French roots and uses local ingredients like onions, bell peppers, and celery. It's known for being hearty and full of flavor, but often simpler to make than Creole food. Cajun dishes use less fish and more shellfish, pork, and wild game. Cajun food is famous for its many seasonings, including garlic, hot peppers, and filé powder.

Soul Food: Comfort and Tradition

Soul food was created by African Americans, whose ancestors were slaves. It's similar to other Southern U.S. foods, but its origins go back to West Africa. It often features comforting and tasty dishes made with simple ingredients. Soul food is very popular in New Orleans.

Seafood: From River to Gulf

Seafood is a huge part of New Orleans cooking. The city is located where the Mississippi River meets the Gulf of Mexico. This means people have access to many kinds of both saltwater and freshwater fish and shellfish.

Popular New Orleans Dishes

Main Dishes and Sides

Oysters Rockefeller was invented at Antoine's restaurant in New Orleans.

Po' boy sandwiches are a famous New Orleans food.

A plate of delicious Jambalaya.

Red beans and rice is a popular dish in New Orleans.

• Andouille—a smoked sausage made with pork, garlic, and spices. It's often used in dishes like gumbo and jambalaya.
• Blackened redfish—a redfish filet covered in seasonings and quickly cooked in a very hot pan. The outside turns black, but the inside stays moist.
• Boiled seafood—shellfish like crawfish, shrimp, and crabs, boiled and often served with corn and potatoes.
• Boudin—a sausage made with pork, rice, and Cajun spices.
• Calas—fried rice dumplings, usually eaten for breakfast with coffee.
• Dirty rice—white rice cooked with small pieces of chicken liver or giblets, vegetables, and spices. It gets a "dirty" color from the meat.
• Étouffée—crawfish (or other shellfish) cooked in a thick sauce with roux and Cajun spices, served with rice.
• Gumbo—a thick stew with meat and/or shellfish, vegetables, and a special base made with okra, filé powder, or roux.
• Jambalaya—a rice dish with meat (like sausage, chicken, and shrimp), vegetables, and Creole spices.
• Muffuletta—a large sandwich on round Italian bread with olive salad and different meats and cheeses.
• Oysters Rockefeller—oysters on the half-shell topped with herbs, a rich butter sauce, and bread crumbs, then baked.
• Po' boy—a long sandwich on French bread. Popular fillings include fried shrimp, oysters, or catfish, or roast beef with gravy. It's usually topped with lettuce and tomatoes.
• Pompano en Papillote—a pompano fish filet cooked in a sealed parchment paper envelope with a white sauce of wine, shrimp, and crabmeat.
• Red beans and rice—kidney beans cooked with Cajun spices, ham, and vegetables, served with white rice.
• Shrimp Creole—cooked shrimp in a mix of tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, and celery, spiced with hot sauce, and served over white rice.

• New Orleans dishes
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  A plate of Calas at a New Orleans restaurant

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  Dirty rice

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  Crawfish étouffée

Desserts and Sweets

Bananas Foster is a famous New Orleans dessert.

• Bananas Foster—a dessert with bananas and vanilla ice cream, covered in a sauce made from butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and rum. It's often set on fire (flambéed) when served! It was created in 1951 at Brennan's restaurant.
• Beignet—a square-shaped pastry that is deep-fried and covered with powdered sugar. They are very famous in New Orleans.
• Bread pudding—a sweet dessert made from bread, milk, eggs, and sugar. It's often served warm with a whiskey or caramel sauce.
• Doberge cake—a cake with many thin layers, separated by pudding or custard (often chocolate and lemon), and a glazed frosting.
• King cake—a braided cake with cinnamon, topped with purple, green, and gold frosting. A small plastic baby is hidden inside! It's eaten during Mardi Gras season.
• Praline—a candy made with pecans, sugar, butter, and cream.
• Sno-ball—shaved ice with flavored syrup, served in a cup. It's like a snow cone but with much finer, fluffier ice that soaks up the syrup better.

• New Orleans desserts
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  Beignets from Café du Monde in New Orleans

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  A doberge cake

Sauces and Drinks

• Crystal Hot Sauce—a popular brand of hot sauce made with aged red cayenne peppers.
• Remoulade—a creamy sauce, similar to mayonnaise, often flavored with curry and sometimes containing pickles.
• Tabasco sauce—a famous brand of hot sauce made with aged tabasco peppers from Avery Island.
• Café au lait—coffee made with roasted chicory root and steamed milk. It was made famous by Café du Monde.

Food Companies in New Orleans

• Dorignac's Food Center—a historic food store known for selling local specialties.
• Leidenheimer Baking Company—a bakery famous for its French bread, used for po' boy sandwiches, and other local breads.
• Zatarain's—a food and spice company that makes many Cajun and Creole food products.

Restaurants and Places to Eat

Antoine's restaurant is in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

New Orleans has a very popular and diverse restaurant scene. Many places offer amazing food experiences!

Some notable New Orleans dining spots include:

The Picayune Creole Cook Book

The Picayune Creole Cook Book is a very important book about Creole cooking. It was published in 1900. At that time, many people were moving away from New Orleans. Local newspapers worried that the special cooking secrets of Louisiana would be lost forever.

The recipes in the book were put together by someone working at the Daily Picayune newspaper. They said the recipes came directly from "the old Creole 'mammies'," meaning experienced Creole cooks. Since it was first published, the book has been re-released many times, with most of the original recipes staying the same.

Images for kids

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  A Sazerac cocktail at the Sazerac bar in New Orleans.