Cajun
Louisiana French heritage
Cajun refers to the French-speaking descendants of Acadian exiles who settled in Louisiana after being expelled from eastern Canada in the 18th century.
The word also describes their distinctive culture, cuisine, and music: Cajun cooking, a Cajun band.
Cajun food features spicy, hearty dishes like gumbo, jambalaya, and crawfish boils.
The culture blends French, Spanish, African, and Native American influences in the bayous and prairies of southern Louisiana.
Spicy Louisiana rice dish
- gumboSpiced Louisiana stew
- boudinRice-stuffed pork casing
- crawfishSmall freshwater lobster relative
- étoufféeCajun smothered shellfish dish
andouille · roux · blackened · dirty rice · po'boy · beignet · cayenne · filé
Gulf Coast pelican state
- bayouMarshy, slow-moving waterway
- AcadianaCajun cultural region
- swampWaterlogged land with vegetation
- New OrleansLouisiana's largest city
Creole roots music
Fused language, stabilized
- French CanadianFrancophone from Canada
- LouisianaGulf Coast pelican state
- bayouMarshy, slow-moving waterway
- FrancophoneFrench language user
diaspora · heritage · ancestry · descendant · community · culture · tradition · identity
jambalaya
Spicy Louisiana rice dish
étouffée · andouille · roux · blackened · dirty rice · po'boy · beignet · cayenne · filé · tasso
Louisiana
Gulf Coast pelican state
Lafayette · New Orleans · wetlands · Gulf Coast · prairie · marsh · levee
zydeco
Creole roots music
- accordionBellows-driven reed instrument
- fiddleAdjust restlessly; folk violin
- two-stepFast paired ballroom dance
waltz · washboard · dance hall · triangle
Creole
Fused language, stabilized
- French CanadianFrancophone from Canada
- LouisianaGulf Coast pelican state
- bayouMarshy, slow-moving waterway
Francophone · diaspora · heritage · ancestry · descendant · community · culture · tradition · identity · lineage
- cuisinesItalian cuisine, French cuisine, Chinese cuisine, Japanese cuisine, Mexican cuisine
- FranceParis, Notre-Dame, Lyon, croissant, Toulouse
- accentsBritish accent, Australian accent, New England accent, New York accent, Boston accent
- American cuisineSouthern, Creole, soul food, barbecue, BBQ
- Americanismsaluminum, fixin' to, apartment, howdy, candy
- Cultural Fusionfusion cuisine, fusion jazz, fusion dance, syncretism, hybridity
CajunAnglo
English-origin prefix
Creole · WASP · Yankee · Louisiana Creole · plantation culture
Cajunbland
Lacking distinctive qualities
unseasoned · mild · health food · fusion cuisine · continental cuisine
- Cajun cuisineLouisiana French cooking tradition
- cajun foodSpicy bayou cuisine
- Cajun seasoningSpicy Louisiana spice mixture
- Cajun musicLouisiana French folk tradition
- cajun friesSeasoned fried potato strips
- Cajun spiceLouisiana-style spice blend