Louisiana oyster stew is a rich soup made with fresh oysters and their liquor, usually combined with butter, milk, cream, aromatic vegetables, and gentle Creole seasoning. Learn how the dish is prepared, why the oysters are added near the end, and how oyster stew differs from gumbo, bisque, chowder, and older Creole oyster soups.
Yakamein’s exact inventor may never be known, but its New Orleans history connects Chinese American restaurants, Black family cooking, corner stores, second lines, late-night French Quarter dining, Hurricane Katrina, and the work of cooks such as Linda Green.
Yakamein is a New Orleans noodle soup commonly made with chopped beef, spaghetti, hard-cooked egg, green onions, and a salty, spicy broth. Learn how this African American comfort food reflects the city’s Chinese, Creole, neighborhood, second-line, and street-vendor traditions.
Grillades are thin pieces of beef, veal, or pork that are browned and slowly cooked in a seasoned Creole gravy. Most famously served with grits, they are a traditional New Orleans breakfast and brunch dish with many family and restaurant variations.
Louisiana chicken fricassee combines browned chicken with a rich roux-based gravy, aromatic vegetables, stock, herbs, and rice. Learn which chicken pieces work best, how the gravy develops, and how fricassee differs from smothered chicken, sauce piquante, stew, and gumbo.
Louisiana fricassee is a slow-cooked dish in which browned meat is simmered in a rich roux-based gravy with aromatic vegetables, stock, herbs, and seasoning. Learn how the technique works, which meats are used, and how fricassee differs from sauce piquante, smothered meat, stew, and gumbo.
Chicken sauce piquante is a Louisiana dish made by slowly braising browned chicken in a sharp tomato-and-roux gravy with aromatic vegetables, stock, herbs, and pepper. Learn how it is prepared, why bone-in chicken works especially well, and how it differs from chicken fricassee, gumbo, and ordinary chicken stew.
Turtle sauce piquante is a traditional Louisiana preparation in which freshwater turtle meat is slowly cooked in a sharp tomato-and-roux gravy with aromatic vegetables, stock, herbs, and pepper. Learn how it is prepared, what turtle tastes like, how lawful sourcing matters, and why the dish should not be confused with New Orleans turtle soup.
Louisiana sauce piquante is a slow-cooked meat, seafood, or wild-game dish made with tomatoes, roux, aromatic vegetables, stock, and sharp seasoning. Learn what makes the sauce piquant, which proteins are commonly used, and how it differs from gumbo, étouffée, courtbouillon, and fricassee.
French court-bouillon is a light aromatic liquid used to poach fish or shellfish. Louisiana courtbouillon is a richly seasoned fish stew or gravy made with roux, tomatoes, vegetables, stock, and rice. Learn how two preparations sharing one French name became dramatically different dishes.