Cajun and creole are terms often used interchangeably to describe the flavorful dishes that louisiana is famous for. Create a partystopping lasagna by baking it in a bundt pan. Homemade creole seasoning recipe chili pepper madness. Popular in louisiana cuisine, cajun or creole spices are known for their robust flavor. For other spice blends try my copycat montreal seasoning blend, or my copycat emerils blackened meat seasoning this is perfect used in my creole shrimp and grits, too.
Many creole and cajun recipes will call for a creole or cajun seasoning blend. The ingredients are a pantry staple nothing exotic here. When it comes to seasoning blends, cajun and creole seasonings are difficult to beat. Quiz any aficionados of louisianaarea cuisine, and they can describe the differences between creole and cajun food down to the dish. Cajun seasoning blends are often spicy, with an emphasis on the heat from cayenne pepper. The seasoning is heavily herb based, and includes thyme, basil, oregano, and bay leaves. Emerils essence creole seasoning recipe food network. The herbs that typically show up include oregano, thyme, and sometimes marjoram.
Cajun, whats the difference between these two very similar spices. Both blends contain european spices, but were developed within cooking traditions. Learn how to make the best homemade cajun seasoning in this easy spice mix recipe. The best louisiana cajun or creole seasoning cooks illustrated. Both cajun and creole seasoning come from immigrants to louisiana. We dont really know whats in tonys, but whatever is in it, thats cajun seasoning. For a recent article on cajun spice blends for chile pepper magazine, so many people responded to me with a diehard love for chacheres there were accolades to tony chacheres that werent seen for other cajun blends. All natural spices including paprika, red, black white peppers, oregano, salt, onion and garlic.
A vastly simplified way to describe the two cuisines is to deem creole cuisine as city food while cajun cuisine is often referred to as country food. For a cajun pizza, you might choose similar toppings, but also add pepperoni and go with a cajunflavored crust. This blend is great for seasoning rice, meats, soups and stews, or anything that benefits from a spicy creole flavour. Recipes seemed to call for the cajun spice mix and creole spice mix like they were the same thing. Cajun and creole seasoning recipe american louisiana herb and.
Tony chacheres original creole seasoning is an extraordinary blend of flavorful spices prized by cooks everywhere. Delicious as an allpurpose spice blend and, of course, perfect for seasoning your favorite creole dishes. Creole seasoning primarily relies on herbs like oregano, bay leaf, basil, thyme, rosemary, parsley and paprika. The quantities seemed pretty large so i made a 14 to recipe using three very good sundried tomato.
Creole seasoning does overlap slightly with cajun seasoning in terms of the spicy or heat aspects. Zatarains big and zesty all purpose creole seasoning, 5. I make up this creole seasoning to have on hand when a recipe calls for creole or cajun seasoning. This blend creates a robust, smoky flavor that is slightly spicy and very savory. Stuff couscous and beef into sweet bell peppers for a nutritious meal.
Achieving such deliciousness is partly due to a combination of spices, which you can easily replicate with this cajun seasoning. We will compare these two blends in this edition of spiceography showdown. The only seasoning mix my family ever uses is copious amounts of tony chacheres. This article will help you understand the differences and similarities in ingredients, style, and seasonings between both. You owe it to yourself to experience how much it actually enhances the flavor of meats, seafood, poultry, vegetables, eggs, soups, stews, and salads even barbecue and french fries.
Recipes for louisiana spice blends vary in name, but whether called cajun or creole, most contain a mix of paprika, garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, and cayenne. They say in order to really know someone, meet their family. This cajun spice and skillet seasoning will add a little heat to your menu and can be used as a coating on meats to. Cajun seasoning focuses primarily on a variety of ground peppers white, black and red. Creole refers to the original europeanparticularly french and spanish settlers of new orleans. Tips and seasoning ingredients from the native indians, and the caribbean and african cooks helped give birth to creole cooking. When i was a kid, i coated all of my food in cajun seasoning. Commerical varieties of this blend of herbs and spices are available, but they are often.
Use this fresh blend of spices and herbs to add pep to the cajunspiced turkey and crawfish gravy, or to season blackened redfish or gumbo. While many of the ingredients in cajun and creole dishes are similar, the real difference between the two styles is the people behind these famous cuisines. While many who are unfamiliar with louisianas food culture do use the terms creole and cajun interchangeably, there are differences between the cooking styles and seasoning preferences of the two blends, creole seasoning is known as the milder and more refined option. Choose toppings that are often incorporated in creole seasoning, such as onion and bell peppers. Difference between creole and cajun seasoning with recipe. Tony chacheres salt free creole seasoning cajun grocer. Baharat is a special allpurpose seasoning blend that is widely used in middle eastern cooking. One difference is that creole seasoning has a fair amount out paprika in it where cajun does not.
While the spice mixtures can differ slightly, theyre fairly similar and according to louisiana travel, the main difference is in the preparation of the dish as opposed to the actual spice mixture cajun doesnt contain tomatoes whereas creole does. Creole seasoning this spicy seasoning adds warmthin more ways than one. Some of the ingredients which are frequently used in the creole seasoning includes. Mccormick gourmet cajun seasoning mccormick gourmet. Both creole and cajun cooking terms are used interchangeably. Therefore, cajun cuisine, though it shares similar dishes with creole cuisine, such as gumbo, has telltale characteristics that makes it easy to distinguish from creole cooking. Recipes for louisiana spice blends vary in name, but whether called cajun or creole, most contain a mix of paprika, garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, and cayenne ingredients typically found in the regions gumbos, seafood boils, and meat rubs. Use it to flavor dry rubs, barbecue sauce or the breading for deepfried fish or chicken. The flavor of the seasoning blend is spicy and piquant with a little bit of smokiness to compare, i think it tastes kind of similar to creole seasoning. Whats the difference between cajun and creole seasoning.
First, lets delve into the history of cajun and creole cooking. Creole seasoning tends to be a little sweeter and mild. It works well as an alternative to adobo seasoning, cajun seasoning, or even creole seasoning. While you can buy cajun or creole louisiana seasoning blends in the grocery store, theyre often harsh and staletasting. Many new orleansinspired recipes call for a cajun or creole seasoning blend. Usage tips use 2 teaspoons of cajun seasoning on chicken, pork chops, or fish, to jazz up these dishes with new orleansstyle flavor. Creole cuisine is influenced by people born to settlers in french colonial louisiana, specifically in new orleans. Slap ya mama all natural cajun seasoning from louisiana, spice variety pack, 8 ounce cans, 1 original cajun and 1 hot cajun blend. Bring a hint of zesty new orleans flavor to your entrees with regal cajun spice and skillet seasoning. Creole foods are a combination of many different cultures, from french to irish to west african. The best louisiana cajun or creole seasoning cooks. Back in 2011, in his new york times magazine column, cooking with dexter, pete wells asked his son about his favorite foods it was a tie, wells recounted dexter saying.
Governor bienville, afraid of losing the new residents. In a small bowl, combine onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, basil, thyme, black pepper, white pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika and salt. Cajun seasoning is a spice mixture commonly used as a blackening seasoning. All of the components are relatively easy to find, which means that making your own blend is relatively simple when compared to whipping up other seasoning blends with more exotic ingredients. It would also bring both the red color of tomatoes to the dish, along with their flavor and acidity. You can easily find a jar in your grocery stores spice aisle, but, if youre like us, you never have time to run out when the craving. Although it relies heavily on the leafy based herbs which are taken from european cultures, the paprika and pepper blends are a nuance which is frequently found in the cajun based spices. Creole, from the spanish criollo, meaning native to a place, evolved across nearly 300 years in new orleansa city founded in 1718 by the french, ruled soon after by. Whats so great about tony chacheres creole spice blend.
The same or similar blend sometimes can be called cajun seasoning, and at least one brand of creole seasoning is made by a company with cajun in the name. Authentic louisiana creole is about the complex mix of pungent herbs and spices. It features a savory combination of paprika, onion, garlic, pepper, spices and salt. You can get toppings that are common ingredients in creole foods, like tomato and sausage. What can be further confusing is, there are some spices which seem to be pretty close in terms of their blends, usage, and so on. Im just puzzled by the utter devotion that tony chacheres original creole spice blend commands. Add all the ingredients to a food processor and pulse several times to combine and store in an airtight container. First, the rouxremember that the cajun version uses oil instead of butter, and the further south you get, the darker the roux. Many of the ingredients the european chefs normally used in their cooking were unavailable locally.
They were mostly from wealthy families and brought or sent for chefs from madrid, paris, and other european capitals. In a large bowl, cut corn off cob and scrape cobs to get all the juice. The packaged seasonings follow suit, with creole seasoning having many of the same ingredients as cajun seasoning, but typically with a few additional thrown in, like sweet basil. Creole seasoning generally tends to have more oregano andor basil than cajun seasoning. What is the difference between creole and cajun seasoning. Ingredients may include cayenne pepper, salt, garlic, onion, oregano and salt. This spicy mixture can be used on fish, chicken, pork. Ranch dressing and cajun seasonings were my goto with pretty much every meal. Creole seasoning commonly contains those as well but also features. While we work to ensure that product information is correct, on occasion manufacturers may alter their ingredient lists. What, if any, are the differences between cajun and creole.
This seasoning is used for emerils yellowfin tuna with grilled pineapple salsa, simple turkey meatloaf, chicken cordon bleu, southernstyle panfried catfish, corn cakes with christmas caviar, and creolespiced fried chicken. My reverseengineered recipe for tony chacheres original creole seasoning. A vastly oversimplified way to describe the two cuisines is to deem creole cuisine city food and cajun cuisine country food. Creole seasoning has a similar savory flavor profile, but with more of an emphasis on the herbs. Creole cooking is a complex conversation, but they do share very similar french roots. Paprika is typically used for the fiery or spicy undertone in the spices.