Imagine a sea-pantry filled with every, single, underwater
creature you’ve ever loved to eat. Then, mix the articles in
that pantry with the indigenous foods and ideas of cultures from
around the world—France, Spain, Africa, Canada, Germany, Haiti,
and Santo Domingo, to name a few. Then, give it all some time to
marinate together and that may begin to tell the story of
seafood in New Orleans. It all starts with local ingredients.
Because of where it lives on the map, Louisiana is the number-
one provider of shrimp, oysters, crab, crawfish, and alligator
in America. And New Orleans is its heart. They’ve been catchin’,
cookin’, and eatin’ seafood for generations here. When you order
a bowl of gumbo, it’s delicious for millions of reasons.
Literally. Here’s why: A long time ago, Africans and American
Indians mingled to form “Cajuns” (that’s Louisianian for
“Acadian”). The original “Creoles” (Translation: “the first born
in a new colony”) were the children of the French, Spanish, and
Germans who settled the area.