 Smothered turkey with rice and gravy | |
| Place of origin | United States |
|---|---|
| Region or state | Louisiana |
| Main ingredients | Meats, brown gravy, rice |
Rice and gravy is a staple of Louisiana Creole and Cajun cuisine, [1] made by deglazing a pan to make brown gravy, simmered with extra seasonings, and served over steamed or boiled rice.
Rice has been a major agricultural export crop in southwest Louisiana since the late 1800s [1] and has become a staple of local cuisine in dishes such as boudin, gumbo and étouffée. Rice and gravy is traditionally made from cheaper cuts of meat and cooked in a cast iron pot for a long time in order to let the tough cuts of meat become tender. [2] Beef, [3] pork, [4] chicken or any other meat can be used in its preparation. [5] Fattier cuts of beef and pork, as well as chicken, squirrel, [6] rabbit, [7] turkey necks, [8] wild pig, and duck lend themselves more easily to the making of the gravy, while venison and leaner cuts of beef and pork are more difficult to make tender, but can be helped by adding andouille sausage or cured pork tasso to the dish during the browning or smothering process. [2] Often the meat is cooked with the Cajun holy trinity, a mirepoix variant of onions, bell peppers, and celery in roughly equal quantities, although other vegetables can also be used. [9]
Originally a dish favored by farmers and laborers, it is now often served in local plate lunch houses. [10] Raised on Rice and Gravy, a 2009 documentary film by Conni Castille and Allison Bohl, chronicles the prevalence of the dish at local plate lunch houses and its enduring popularity in Acadiana cuisine. [11] Abbeville native Bobby Charles' Rice 'N' Gravy Records is named for the popular dish. [12] Acadian Village in Lafayette is home to the annual "Rice and Gravy Cook-Off" sponsored by the Louisiana Beef Council. [13] [14]
Cajun cuisine is a style of cooking developed by the Cajun–Acadians who were deported from Acadia to Louisiana during the 18th century and who incorporated West African, French and Spanish cooking techniques into their original cuisine.
The cuisine of the Southern United States encompasses diverse food traditions of several regions, including Tidewater, Appalachian, Lowcountry, Cajun, Creole, and Floribbean cuisine. In recent history, elements of Southern cuisine have spread to other parts the United States, influencing other types of American cuisine.
Gravy is a condiment, often made from the juices of meats that run naturally during cooking and often thickened with wheat flour or corn starch for added texture. The gravy may be further coloured and flavored with gravy salt or gravy browning or ready-made cubes and powders can be used as a substitute for natural meat or vegetable extracts. Canned and instant gravies are also available. Gravy is commonly served with biscuits, roasts, meatloaf, rice, noodles, chips (fries) and mashed potatoes.
Louisiana Creole cuisine is a style of cooking originating in Louisiana, United States, which blends West African, French, Spanish, and Amerindian influences, as well as influences from the general cuisine of the Southern United States.
Jambalaya is an American Creole and Cajun rice dish of French, African, and Spanish influence, consisting mainly of meat and vegetables mixed with rice.
Meatloaf is a dish of ground meat that has been combined with other ingredients and formed into the shape of a loaf, then baked or smoked. The final shape is either hand-formed on a baking tray, or pan-formed by cooking it in a loaf pan. It is usually made with ground beef, although ground lamb, pork, veal, venison, poultry, and seafood are also used, sometimes in combination. Vegetarian adaptations of meatloaf may use imitation meat or pulses.
Hash is a culinary dish consisting of chopped meat, potatoes, and fried onions. The name is derived from French: hacher, meaning "to chop". It originated as a way to use up leftovers. In the USA by the 1860s, a cheap restaurant was called a "hash house" or "hashery."
Churrasco is the Portuguese and Spanish name for beef or grilled meat more generally. It is a prominent feature in the cuisine of Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. The related term churrascaria is mostly understood to be a steakhouse restaurant serving grilled meat, many offering as much as one can eat: servers move around the restaurant with skewers, slicing meat onto the customer's plate. This serving style is called espeto corrido or rodízio, and is quite popular in Brazil, especially in southern states like Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná, Santa Catarina, and São Paulo.
A schnitzel is a thin slice of meat. The meat is usually thinned by pounding with a meat tenderizer. Most commonly, the meat is breaded before frying. Breaded schnitzel is popular in many countries and is made using veal, pork, chicken, mutton, beef, or turkey. Schnitzel is very similar to the dish escalope in France, tonkatsu in Japan, cotoletta in Italy, kotlet schabowy in Poland, milanesa in Argentina, chuleta valluna in Colombia and "chicken fried steak" of the United States.
The plate lunch is a quintessentially Hawaiian meal, roughly analogous to Southern U.S. meat-and-threes. However, the pan-Asian influence on Hawaiian cuisine, and its roots in the Japanese bento, make the plate lunch unique to Hawaii.
Dirty rice is a traditional Louisiana Creole dish made from white rice which gets a "dirty" color from being cooked with small pieces of pork, beef or chicken, green bell pepper, celery, and onion, and spiced with cayenne and black pepper. Parsley and chopped green onions are common garnishes. Dirty rice is most common in the Creole regions of southern Louisiana; however, it can also be found in other areas of the American South and referenced as "chicken and rice," "Cajun rice," or "rice dressing".
Hamburg steak is a patty of ground beef. Made popular worldwide by migrating Germans, it became a mainstream dish around the start of the 19th century. It is similar to Salisbury steak.
Texan cuisine is the food associated with the Southern U.S. state of Texas, including its native Southwestern cuisine influenced Tex-Mex foods. Texas is a large state, and its cuisine has been influenced by a wide range of cultures, including Southern, German, Czech, British, African American, Creole/Cajun, Mexican, New Mexican, Native American, Asian, Jewish, and Italian.
Breaded cutlet is a dish made from coating a cutlet of meat with breading or batter and either frying or baking it. Breaded cutlet is known as schnitzel in German-speaking countries, cotoletta alla milanese in Italy, escalope in France, filete empanado in Spain, filete empanizado in Cuba, milanesa in Latin America, katsu in Japan and Korea, kotlet in Poland, řízek in Czech Republic and kotleta in post-Soviet countries.
Smothering meat, seafood or vegetables is a cooking technique used in both Cajun and Creole cuisines of Louisiana. The technique involves cooking in a covered pan over low heat with a moderate amount of liquid, and can be regarded as a form of stove-top braising. The meat dishes cooked in this fashion are typically served over boiled or steamed white rice as a rice and gravy, while the vegetables are typically served as side dishes.
The cuisine of New Orleans encompasses common dishes and foods in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is perhaps the most distinctively recognized regional cuisine in the United States. Some of the dishes originated in New Orleans, while others are common and popular in the city and surrounding areas, such as the Mississippi River Delta and southern Louisiana. The cuisine of New Orleans is heavily influenced by Creole cuisine, Cajun cuisine, and soul food. Seafood also plays a prominent part in the cuisine. Dishes invented in New Orleans include po' boy and muffuletta sandwiches, oysters Rockefeller and oysters Bienville, pompano en papillote, and bananas Foster, among others.
Indo cuisine is a fusion cooking and cuisine tradition, mainly existing in Indonesia and the Netherlands, as well as Belgium, South Africa and Suriname. This cuisine characterized of fusion cuisine that consists of original Indonesian cuisine with Eurasian-influences—mainly Dutch, also Portuguese, Spanish and British—and vice versa. Nowaday, not only Indo people who consume Indo cuisine, but also Indonesians and Dutch people.
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