15 Amazing Traditional New Orleans Famous Food

A seafood boil with crawfish, potatoes and corn. Photo by Logan Ellzey- Unsplash

15 Amazing Traditional New Orleans Famous Food

There is no better food lover’s tourist attraction in the United States than New Orleans. From its Cajun, Creole, and African dishes to the indisputable impacts of French, Spanish, and Vietnamese cultures, New Orleans is a culinary melting pot.

And, because of its close vicinity to the Gulf of Mexico, New Orleans has an amazing array of fresh seafood, which is a key component in the city’s world-well-known recipes. New Orleans takes its seafood very critically, from oysters Rockefeller and seafood gumbo to crawfish étouffée and barbecue shrimp.

However, it is not all about the seafood! If you look into New Orleans’ culinary heritage, you’ll discover that many cuisines were created here. You may not even know where to start given the number of various meals to try and restaurants to experience. To get you started, we’ve compiled a list of the ultimate must-eat foods in New Orleans, as well as the eateries to visit to try them.

1.Turtle soup

Yes, there is real meat in the turtle soup recipe. Snapping turtles are said to have seven different kinds of meat, similar to the proteins found in the average American diet. Turtle soup is not widely available however, it is available at the renowned Commander’s Palace.

This restaurant has been assigned by noteworthy chefs such as Emeril Lagasse and Paul Prudhomme, and it has been named a top restaurant by James Beard, Zagat, and New Orleans Magazine on numerous occasions. Their turtle soup has a lot to do with their success. The rich meal takes three days to prepare, and this component is finally completed with aged wine.

2.Gumbo

Gumbo is a traditional southern Louisiana cuisine that consists of a thick stew with meat or seafood that is eaten with rice. Gumbo is always thickened with okra, a roux of flour and fat, or filé powder made from dried sassafras leaves. There are several hypotheses as to where the word “gumbo” came from.

It could be derived from the Choctaw word “kombo,” the name of the filé powder, or from the African word for okra, “kingumbo.” The Gumbo Shop offers the finest gumbo in New Orleans, with the chicken Andouille gumbo being a local delicacy.

The boneless chicken, Cajun Andouille sausage, and okra are cooked in chicken stock and spices and herbs to make the chicken Andouille gumbo.  The okra thickens the gumbo, however, there is no slippery texture due to the okra’s viscous outcome.

3.Po-Boys

Initially introduced as a donation to feed striking streetcar workers, the Po’Boy has transformed into New Orleans’ most best known sandwich.

These loaf sandwiches are filled to the brim with fresh gulf seafood, smoked pork, meatballs, and pretty much everything that the chef can imagine offered on crunchy New Orleans style french bread with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise.

Presently, the variety of po’boy stuffing obtainable has expanded well beyond classical and represents the city’s multi-cultural flavor. Po’boys can be extremely big, making them an excellent food for sharing.

4.Beignets

New Orleans Beignets. Photo by Keesha’s Kitchen- Unsplash

Beignets (pronounced ben-yays) are little sugary desserts. The Colonists introduced the sweet snack to Louisiana in the 17th century, and it is made by frying dough in vegetable oil and then soaking it liberally with icing sugar. These crunchy desserts, also known as ‘French doughnuts,’ are frequently sold in threes with hillocks of sugar on top and a creamy café au lait.

5.Jambalaya

Jambalaya is a traditional Creole meal that consists of rice, sausage, chicken and shrimp. It immediately reminds you of Spanish paella, that is a different rice and meat combination dish. Creole herbs and spices are used to make jambalaya. It’s wholesome and filling, and it’s one of New Orleans’ must-tries.

Some consider jambalaya to be Louisiana’s staple food. It’s undoubtedly probably one of the best Creole meals.

Jambalaya is available in a variety of restaurants all across New Orleans, you can’t miss it!

6.Trout Amandine

Trout amandine is a basic French Creole meal that combines pan-fried trout with a yummy, buttery and nutty sauce made of brown butter (beurre noisette), almonds, lemon juice and parsley.

Trout amandine is a deviation on trout meunière, that is a variety on the French iconic sole meunière. It also uses meunière (meaning miller’s wife in French), a technique of food preparation that involves dusting food in flour prior to searing it in brown butter with lemon juice and herbs.

7.Muffuletta

New Orleans residents have a penchant for huge and delectable sandwiches, which is a positive idea! If you’re tired of po-boys and want to discover something different, the muffuletta is one of the leading must-eats meals in New Orleans!

This legendary Italian-style sandwich made its debut in New Orleans in 1906, when Italian foreigner Lupo Salvadore launched Central Grocery on Decatur Street in the French Quarter. It was then that he initially introduced the muffuletta on the menu – and eventually on the cuisine map of New Orleans!

A loaf of round Italian sesame bread was graciously topped with salami, ham, mortadella, Swiss cheese, and provolone in the authentic muffuletta. However, the “olive salad,” a combination of olives, pickled vegetables and olive oil, is the star of the show.

8.Bananas Foster

Bananas Foster is a New Orleans-style American dessert made with fried bananas and had in a butter, brown sugar and rum sauce. The browned liquor-based sauce is frequently flambé. This dessert is delicious with vanilla ice cream or as a crêpe filling however, it can also be enjoyed by itself. Seasonings such as cinnamon and nutmeg can be used.

Although several people believe the meal originated at Brennan’s in New Orleans, Louisiana, it actually began a few years earlier in Owen Brennan’s Vieux Carré restaurant. Ella Brennan and the restaurant’s chef Paul Blangé collaborated in 1951 to adapt a traditional dish by Ella’s mother in the Brennan childhood home.

At the time, New Orleans was a regional centre for the shipment of South American bananas. Richard Foster, the chairman of the New Orleans Crime Commission and a friend of restaurant proprietor Owen Brennan, was honored with the title.

9.Oysters

Raw oysters with side of lemon wedges. Photo by Claude Potts- Unsplash

Oysters are a famous delicacy in New Orleans. Oysters from the Gulf are widely available and can be obtained on just about any menu.

As early as the 1700s, French settlers sourced oysters in the Gulf of Mexico. Oyster cultivation and collecting have been a core component of Louisiana heritage ever since.

Oysters are available raw, boiled, chargrilled, or fried all across the town.

If you enjoy raw oysters on the half-shell, there are restaurants in the French Quarter that always have fresh oysters and serve them raw.

10.Pralines

The term praline is said to be derived from the Duke of Plessis-Praslin (1589-1675). He liked almonds, which his chef would layer in burnt caramel. They became well-known in France, and when they arrived in the New World, almonds were supplanted with pecans. Originally, only brown sugar and nuts were mentioned in the recipes however, more latest editions entail butter, milk or cream and vanilla. There are also various flavors of pralines available, such as coconut or chocolate.

11.Crawfish

Crawfish is a freshwater crustacean that can be harvested in Southern Louisiana’s swamps and the county’s multitudes of gloppy rice paddies. It has been and continues to be prepared in a range of methods. From the rich and indulgent crayfish étouffée, a spicy stew served topped with rice, to the easier crawfish pie – with whatever method is chosen, it is highly recommended.

If you really want to taste the flavors, go for the simple, boiled crawfish with seasonings. This order normally comes with a large plate of potatoes, onions, corn on the cob, mushrooms, or spiced sausage.

12.Red beans and rice

Nothing says Monday like red beans and rice in New Orleans.

This slow-cooked meal of pork, kidney beans, rice and seasonings is a heritage of the town’s African and Caribbean immigrants. On Mondays, laundry day, the meal was typically prepared.

Laundry was a time-consuming job that took the greater part of the day to finish. In the morning, chefs could toss rice, beans, ham, or sausage into a casserole with Trinity (a Louisiana mirepoix), spices, and seasonings.

The beans and rice would be served as soon as the laundry was finished, just in time for dinner, with no extra work required. On Mondays, red beans and rice are still served in households and eateries throughout New Orleans.

13.Calas

Calas is a New Orleans specialty that consists of deep-fried rice balls drenched in icing sugar. The dough is thick and doughy, with a creamy center, and is made with boiled rice, yeast, eggs, sugar and flour. These puff pastries are typically made for breakfast with café au lait on the side and are infused with nutmeg and cinnamon.

Calas is believed to have come from the Nupe word kara, which means fried cake. Calas were initially made by Creole street vendors in the town’s French Quarter however, since then they are now a popular breakfast item all across New Orleans.

14.Yak-a-mein

Yak-a-mein, yet another distinctively New Orleans meal, has been a favorite of the town’s African-American community for years. This soothing soup, widely recognized as “Old Sober” for its hangover-curing qualities, is constituted of noodles, hunks of beef, a hard-boiled egg and chopped green onions soaked in a salty soup and slathered with soy sauce and hot sauce.

There’s a logical explanation as to why the name yak-a-mein sounds Asian. While the roots of this legendary New Orleans dish are unknown, it is generally assumed that Chinese immigrants introduced it to the town in the mid-nineteenth century and gave it a Creole spin by New Orleans locals.

Yak-a-mein is one of the must-try meals in New Orleans, and you can locate it offered in local shops and by market stalls all over the town.

15.Eggs Hussarde

Eggs Hussarde at Brennan’s Restaurant, New Orleans. Photo by Wendy Harman- Wikimedia commons

Eggs Hussarde is a New Orleans meal that initially consisted of poached eggs layered on top of Holland rusks, red wine reduction sauce (Marchand de vin) and Canadian bacon. And at last, the dish was drizzled with Hollandaise sauce.

These days, English muffins are frequently substituted for Holland rusks. The meal was created in a restaurant known as Brennan’s and is named after 15th-century Hungarian mercenaries renowned as hussars. It is traditionally eaten for breakfast.