Southeast Louisiana Food by Addie K. Martin

Author:Addie K. Martin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2014-07-16T16:00:00+00:00

Prior to the 1950s, garfish was a popular freshwater fish choice on many southern Louisiana tables. Courtesy of Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

The advent of women working outside the home also had significant influence on modern Cajun cuisine and how it’s practiced in the home. Since the post–World War II era, many more Cajun women have been working outside the home. As a result, home cooking has suffered somewhat, and that’s led to a decrease in the amount of traditional Cajun cooking being done in South Louisiana homes. What was once the norm has now become more of a luxury, considering the time and effort it takes to cook most traditional Cajun dishes.297 Before the days of grocery stores and restaurants, people cooked and ate at home. They typically grew or raised any food they consumed, supplemented by what they could barter for or cheaply pay for with what little money they had. As time passed and food became easier to come by, tastes, customs and practices related to food evolved as well.

Instead of producing one’s own food, a person could turn to those grocery stores and restaurants for easy and convenient access to food. Kevin McCaffrey noted that his grandparents’ generation was the last to garden because it was needed. Also, that was a time when more people in this country were still thought of as immigrants. Many of them still carried those European sensibilities around with them. People McCaffrey’s parents’ age grew up with those gardens, but by they time they were adults, it was the post–World War II boon time. The thinking by that point had gotten to, “Why do I need to garden when I have all these canned goods and frozen foods?” McCaffrey laughed a little when he lovingly said, “You know, I call my mother the ‘Cheez Whiz’ generation.”298 By this point, having a garden became more of a luxury and hobby than a requirement for surviving. That hobby of gardening has stuck with many Cajuns, partially due to their well-known preference for fresh foods and ingredients. The natural palate desire is for fresh, complex flavors. Stir the Pot authors recorded a sentiment from historian Nicole Fontenot about how even when Cajuns got to the point where they could buy produce at the grocery store, they still opted for fresh tomatoes and corn for dishes like maque choux.299 Farmers’ markets and roadside produce stands are increasingly present in the Southeast Louisiana landscape in modern times. Though not always plentiful, they have begun to make their mark in the produce market.

However, through all the modernization and changes of the mid-twentieth century, some cooking and food-based traditions thrived. Marcelle Bienvenu recalls fondly that it was both her father and her mother who taught her how to cook. Which dishes she learned from each parent falls directly in line with the traditional Cajun division of labor when it came to such matters. From her mother, Bienvenu learned how to make dishes cooked on the stove indoors like roux and gumbo.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.