creole

The Saints' first Super Bowl victory and Mardi Gras in less than a week gives Southerners and Northerners an excuse to celebrate the eclectic Creole culture that is so unique to New Orleans. Want to get crazy? Simmer up a steaming pot of seafood gumbo. Keep things basic with canned chicken broth, frozen okra, and two simple shellfish elements — crab and shrimp. Or, if you're feeling more elaborate, peel your own shrimp, saving the shells for a flavorful stock, and throw in the works, from andouille sausage to fresh oysters. Either way, you'll wind up with a gumbo worth getting jazzed up about. For the recipes, read more.

For true mid-Winter comfort food, look no further than the wallet-friendly pairing of red beans and rice. The Louisiana specialty starts with "the holy trinity" of chopped celery, bell pepper, and onions then combines the veggie medley with red kidney beans and pork to be served over steaming hot rice.

You can follow a recipe that calls for canned beans and is easy on the time, number of kitchen steps, and ingredients. Or stick to the classic version, simmered low and slow with ham, sausage, and bay leaves for added flavor and body. Decide which one when you keep reading.

It's an age-old question: is there a distinction between Cajun and Creole cooking — or are they really just the same thing?

The answer is somewhere in between. Creole cooking evolved out of the cosmopolitan culture of New Orleans, a city affected by the influx of international colonists who settled there after the Louisiana Purchase. New Orleans's denizens adopted spices from Africa and the Caribbean, butter and cream from France, tomatoes from Italy, and peppers from Spain and took advantage of the abundance of oysters, shrimp, and crab abundantly available in the Gulf.

Cajun cooking developed in Louisiana's rural backcountry. Acadians drew from their French and Southern roots, cooking whatever could be farmed and trapped locally, along with other inexpensive ingredients such as crawfish, rice, beans, and pork fat. Some of Louisiana's dishes are distinctly Creole, like shrimp rémoulade. Others — take crawfish étouffée, for instance — are credited to the Cajuns. But certain dishes shared by both cuisines, such as jambalaya, possess subtler differences: the Creole version typically contains tomatoes, while its Cajun counterpart employs a roux.

Over time, as the two terms have been used more generically and interchangeably, the differences between Cajun and Creole cooking have become blurred, and food historians have taken to focusing on regional differences within the state. What's your take on Cajun versus Creole? Which do you like more?

To kick-start your Labor Day weekend, look to Louisiana and make this finger-licking good shrimp boil. You don't need to live near the shore to enjoy this classic combination of boiled corn, potatoes, and shrimp. All you need is an oversize pot and half an hour.

Don't skip the spicy horseradish dipping sauce; it pairs perfectly with the small potatoes and succulent shrimp. Do serve with icy cold beer. Check out the recipe and read more