Tag: <span>southern food</span>

Home / southern food
Beignet, Done That!!
Post

Beignet, Done That!!

Let’s get one thing straight before we begin: it’s pronounced “ben-YAY.”

Okay, we may start.

So, the word beignet actually comes from the Celtic word bigne which means “to raise.” The word also derives from the Spanish for fritters, buelos, but ultimately, the French word for fritters (beignet, of course) stuck for the long haul. Truly, all of the influences go hand and hand.

These Louisiana specialties are fried, raised pieces of dough that make for an excellent treat. After the dough is fried, the squares of yumminess are sprinkled with powdered sugar, and the result is …

OK, It’s Okra Time!
Post

OK, It’s Okra Time!

It’s gooey, it’s slimy, it’s OKRA. It may get a bad rap, but around here, we know it as DELICIOUS.

The magical green vegetable originated in the African region we now know as Ethiopia and made its way through North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean before heading to the rest of the world. In Asia, the veggie is known as “lady’s fingers,” on the island of Macau it is called quilobo, while in North America, it’s Igbo name okwuru stuck to become today’s OKRA.

Okra came rather late to colonial America. Though introduced to the lower Americas during the …

Let’s Talk Cajun
Post

Let’s Talk Cajun

Cajun = spicy.

And spicy is my middle name.

So, the Cajuns came to Louisiana around the 1700s as Acadians from the French-Canadian region, Nova Scotia. They didn’t come to Louisiana by choice (they were exiled), but they brought with them some French country cooking. In Canada, they lived off the land and ate what was available, mostly meat and vegetables that they cooked in a stew. The Acadians were poor, country folk, and most of their dishes were easy one-pot recipes that were thick and hearty.

In Louisiana, the Acadians found all sorts of new ingredients, like oysters, alligator, …

Muffuletta: The Story of a Sandwich
Post

Muffuletta: The Story of a Sandwich

Sandwiches are bomb. You can put anything between two slices of bread and call it a sandwich, it’s amazing. I’m a Louisiana boy, so naturally my favorite kind is the Muffuletta.

The word “muffuletta” refers to the round sesame bread that makes the sandwich. Muffuletta bread originated in Sicily, but the sandwich has its home in good ol’ New Orleans. The sammy was invented in the famous institution Central Grocery in the French Quarter around 1906, but the bread has been around since the 1890s. Yep, the muffuletta is older than the Po’ Boy!

The muffuletta came to life out …