Amandine: A method of serving fish or seafood with a lemon butter sauce topped with toasted, slivered almonds. Traditionally the fish is speckled trout which is deep-fried.
However, I often prepare it grilled or broiled.

Andouille: (ahn-dooey) A heavy, thick Cajun highly seasoned smoked sausage made with ham and garlic. Usually served grilled as an entrée' or used in gumbos.

Bayou: A stream or canal in Louisiana.

Bisque: A thick, rich Cajun soup made from a roux and cream mixed with shrimp, oysters, crabmeat or crawfish. When making a crawfish bisque you'll stuff the heads with a crawfish stuffing.

Cajun: A Louisianian of Acadian descent whose ancestors were evicted from Nova Scotia in 1760 who settled in the southern portion of the state.

Canape: A small piece of toasted bread or cracker topped with an appetizer.

Chaurice: A very hot, crumbly sausage often used in red beans, in omelettes or just eaten alone. Not easy to find but well worth the search.

Cochon de Lait: A roast suckling pig. There are numerous festivals in Cajun country where large numbers of these are cooked over outdoor fires.

Courtbouillon: (coo-boo-yon) The water in which the spices, salt, peppers and vegetables are combined to cook fish and shellfish. It also can refer to a red sauce served with fish or seafood prepared this way.

Crawfish: A staple of Cajun cuisine, a freshwater crustacean found in the bayous and swamps of Louisiana. More flavorful than lobster. Louisiana leads the world in crawfish production. Not surprisingly most of them are consumed in state as well.

Creole: Primarily referred to as the "city people", descended from the French, Spanish and African peoples who came to Louisiana.

Daube: (dobe) Seasoned roast beef served with pasta or a highly seasoned beef served cold in a jellied base.

Dirty Rice: Rice cooked with peppers, ground or chopped chicken livers and gizzards. Served with fried or boiled chicken. Also makes a great stuffing.

Etoufee: (ay-too-fay) The stress is on the last syllable. A stew of crawfish, shrimp or crab served over rice. It usually gets spicier the closer one gets to Breaux Bridge, the Crawfish Capitol of the World

File: (fee-lay) Ground sassafras leaves used as a flavoring or thickening agent in chicken and andouille gumbos. Don't use too much---it's also a natural laxative.

Gumbo: Gumbo is an African word for the vegetable okra. In Louisiana it refers to a soup type of dish. There are two distinct kinds: Most common is seafood or okra gumbo and is made with oysters, shrimp, crab claws and bodies, bay leaves and rice. File' gumbo is usually made with chicken and andouille sausage thickened with file'.

Jambalaya: (Jum-ba-lie-ya) A rice dish which is highly seasoned and strongly seasoned with any combination of Meats, sausage, seafood and vegetables. May or may not contain tomatoes depending or your preference. The acclaimed "Jambalaya Capital of the World" is Gonzales, Louisiana not far south of Baton Rouge

Lagniappe: A little "something extra"---to show appreciation.
Thrown in for good measure.

Marinade: A mixture of liquids and seasonings in which foods are soaked before cooking.

Mirliton: A vegetable also known as a chayote or vegetable pear. They are a vine grown member of the cucumber family.

Pannee': (pan-nay) A method of frying meat cutlets. A thick crust of breaded seasoning is used and the meats are quickly fried in very hot oil.

Piquante: (pi-kahnt) A very highly seasoned pepper hot sauce
In which meats, chicken and seafood is cooked.

Remoulade: A thick mayonnaise type of cold dressing made with hot Creole mustard, chopped green onions, ketchup and seasonings. Served with cold boiled shrimp or lump crabmeat.

Stuffed Ponce: A pig stomach stuffed with ground pork, onions, green peppers, seasonings and green onions.

Tasso: (tah-so) Thin cut highly seasoned smoke cured ham. Used for seasoning in beans, gumbos, vegetables and many other Cajun dishes.

Tournedos: (tor-neh-doh) A cut of beef taken from the tenderloin, not quite as large as the filet mignon but much more flavorable. The classic steak served in the top Creole restaurants.