ANDOUILLE: A popular reddish Cajun pork sausage made from Pork stomach and other ingredients
APPETIZER: A snack.
BISQUE: A popular Cajun soup made with crawfish, in which the crawfish heads are stuffed with meat of the tails and placed in the soup bowl.
BOUCHERIE: A great Cajun tradition whereby groups of families got together once a week to butcher one or more calves or pigs, thereafter dividing the various cuts and making various Cajun dishes such as boudin, hogshead cheese and cracklins from portions of the pig.
BOUDIN: A popular Cajun pork sausage, usually light in color, made with rice and various parts of pork.
BRUNCH: Some meal that Cajuns do not have.
CAJUN MUSIC: Strictly Cajun French with one-step, two-step, and jitterbug dancing. Bands consist of an accordian player, a guitar player, a violin player and a drummer. Sometimes a steel guitar player or vocalist who plays an instrument, is added. ( Cajun bands are mostly made up of family members. )
CORNICHON: Cucumber strips soaked in vinegar with hot peppers.
COURTBOUILLION: A light Cajun fish soup including tomatoes and served with rice.
CRACKLINS: A dish made by frying small cut portions of pork skin and pork fat; also called "gratons"
CRAWFISH: A plentiful Louisiana crustacean used in many classic Cajun dishes, which looks like a small lobster.
ETOUFFEE: A method of Cajun food preparation meaning smothered and cooked without a roux.
EXACT MEASUREMENTS: Just enough----- not too much!
FILE: A ground sassafras leaf. Used to season and thicken gumbo. ( Always add
to gumbo just before it is served, preferably in a plate or bowl
of gumbo. )
FRICASSEE: A cajun stew made with a roux and chicken, duck, venison,
beef or other meats and served over rice.
GREEN ONIONS: A very commonly used seasoning in Cajun dishes; also sometimes referred to as green onion tops by the Cajuns.
GUMBO: A soup or stew usually made with a roux and including meats commonly available in Cajun country, such as fowl, wild game, Cajun sausage, tasso, or seafood.
JAMBALAYA: A Cajun dish in which pork, wild game, and various other ingredients are cooked together with rice.
LAGNIAPPE: A French word meaning something extra or in addition to or including other things.
OKRA: A green pod vegetable of African origin used in gumbos and as a side dish.
PIROGUE: A small, narrow wooden boat resembling a canoe in structure, used in the bayou.
ROUX: A classic Cajun concoction made by blending flour and oil and cooking the two together; used in Cajun gumbos, stews, fricassees, courtbouillons, sauce piquantes and other dishes.
SALT MEAT: A salty pork meat often used to season Cajun soups and other dishes.
SAUCE: A gravy.
SAUCE PIQUANT: A hot, spicy Cajun stew made with a roux, tomato sauce and various meats such as hen, geese, duck, rabbit, squirrel or turtle and other meats historically available in Cajun country.
SAUSAGE CASING: A natural casing used in the preparation of boudin, andouille and pork sausage made from the intestines of pork and beef and readily available at most meat markets.
TASSO: A dried, smoked pork used in gumbos and other dishes.
ZYDECO MUSIC: A blend of Cajun, jazz, rock, soul and country music
creating a whole new style of dancing to a different beat.