Étouffée
From HeatWiki
Étouffée or etouffee is a Creole and Cajun dish typically served with shellfish or chicken over rice, similar to gumbo, very popular in New Orleans and in the bayou country of the southernmost half of Louisiana.
Contents |
[edit] Description
The usual staple of an étouffée is seafood such as crawfish, shrimp, or crabmeat. Other meats, such as chicken, or a combination of chicken and seafood, are also used.
The base of an étouffée is either a dark brown-red roux, a blonde roux (a roux that isn't browned as much) or simply onions cooked down in butter. It is usually seasoned with cayenne pepper, onions, green bell pepper and celery (a.k.a. the holy trinity), garlic, and salt and has a thicker consistency than gumbo. A crawfish étouffée, if made with a roux, usually has a reddish color sometimes attributed to crawfish fat (an important ingredient), which is untrue. Crawfish fat is bright yellow, and will not color the dish red. The red color comes from the dark brown-red roux. Seasonings the crawfish were boiled in could also give the dish a red tint. There is typically no tomato in this dish. However, in some areas it has become popular to add tomatoes or tomato paste to the dish. However, most purists believe that once tomatoes are added, the dish ceases to be a true étouffée, and instead becomes a stew or a creole. In many parts of the country, outside of Louisiana, people make étouffée with cream; however, cream should never be part of a true étouffée.
[edit] Recipes
[edit] Related cuisine
Beginning in the late 20th century, with the popularization of Louisiana cuisine beyond its place of origin, innovations to these basic forms have abounded. In fact, the term "gumbo" is often used in slang parlance to mean a mixture of anything and everything. One seemingly may add whatever is available in one's kitchen to a pot of gumbo. Étouffée, on the other hand, appears to be held to more exacting standards.
