Okay, I'm going to a Cajun restaurant tonight...

[Javaman]

with my wife and a few friends.

I can't stand "blackened" anything, however, I do like Jambalaya, but I want to try something new.

Any suggestions?

[Nicole Lambeth]

1. red beans and rice

as God intended it to be eaten. Also, grab some fried gator tail and a beignet if they've got 'em.

[KamaAina]

14. Next time I have some (possibly Monday)

I'll be sure to read some Pratchett while I'm eatin' em! :hi:

[Nicole Lambeth]

18. I love me some beans and rice!

And I'm about to finish another Discworld novel (that has already been read several times before). :hi: back atcha!

[merh]

2. crawfish etouffee and corn bread

Or seafood gumbo

[redqueen]

3. ...

:thumbsup:

[merh]

8. I'd go with the gumbo & cornbread

seafood or chicken gumbo, either one will do

[redqueen]

10. I'd skip the cornbread, myself...

but some chicken, sausage and shrimp jambalaya... damned if I'm not craving it now.

[merh]

13. I keep these in the pantry for that quick fix

[SacredCow]

22. The Zatarain's and Oak Grove mixes are passable....

with a little doctoring up, they can be pretty good.

:hi:

[merh]

24. Oh, definitely doctoring required

onions and celery and tony chachere's spice.

The truth be told, I like Tony Chachere's gumbo mix better than Zatarans
and I've never tried Oak Grove but I just bought some Kary's Roux Gumbo mix, from Ville Platte LA.

I love me some chicken gumbo so I have the mixes around to help me get my fix fast.

:hi:

[SacredCow]

27. To be honest, I'm not sure the Oak Grove mixes are even available anymore....

they were only sold locally, I think, and they may have shut their doors.

The spice balance in their mixes was very good, but they were WAY too salty. I would typically add a cup of plain rice to the jambalaya mix and doctor it up appropriately.

[Arkansas Granny]

9. Good choices.

[Moondog]

12. ... what he said.

[southpaw]

4. There are still Cajun restaurants?

I thought they were all forced to close sometime in the early 90's... right around the time it became a federal crime to serve blue drinks...

[Javaman]

5. Don't know about that, but I'm in Austin. It's close enough to Louisiana so there are a few here.

I just don't go out of my way to eat that type of food.

However, if I have a good experience, I'm may return.

[SacredCow]

6. I can honestly say that I've never had authentic (or even good) Cajun food outside of Louisiana...

As for "blackened" anything.... That was invented by Paul Prudhomme in fairly recent times, so it can't be regarded as "classic" cajun. It was a fad.

Hard to say what to try without seeing the menu, though.

[MilesColtrane]

20. There's a chain in Texas that is edible, but that's the kindest that can be said of it.

Yes, you do have to go to the source to get the real stuff.

[SacredCow]

21. Even living amongst a bunch of great restaurants, and knowing how to cook it myself...

I rarely eat that kind of cuisine. It's surely not the healthiest diet around....

[seemunkee]

7. Gumbo!

crawfish fritters
fried okra

[cbayer]

11. Fried catfish, hushpuppies. Start with seafood or chicken/sausage gumbo.

Do you have a link to the menu?

[petronius]

15. Jambalaya, crawfish pie, file gumbo...

Also hush puppies, boudin balls, etouffe, spinach madaleine (don't know if it's cajun, but I only had it in LA), fried catfish - dammit, now I'm freakin' starving!

[Rob H.]

16. Try a sandwich

specifically a muffaletta sandwich. I don't know if they're technically considered Cajun food, I just know they're delicious.

[Xipe Totec]

17. Crawfish. And dont' forget to suck the heads! n/t

[Tabasco_Dave]

19. Seafood Gumbo

If it's properly made it can be the food of the gods.:9

[SacredCow]

23. As a Louisiana native, I find great humor in seeing what passes for Gumbo in other states....

For some reason, many places tend to put peas and carrots in it and serve it as soup? :wtf:

[MajorChode]

26. The best gumbo I've ever had was in Tulsa

at a place called White River Fish Market. It's a cajun style gumbo. I've been all over Louisiana and never had better. I'm pretty sure the owner of the restaurant is from Louisiana though.

[Skittles]

25. just tell 'em not to put the black shit on it