Top 10 Strange Things Cajuns Eat (You Know You Want Some)

Living in South Louisiana all my life, my diet consists mainly of Cajun cuisine.  I've had the pleasure of enjoying lots of Cajun critters that fly, crawl, and scurry around in the woods and swamplands, and I'm not ashamed to admit it!  So after watching a few episodes on the Food Network and learning how people all over the world eat innards, cooked and raw, I feel no shame at starting this blog.  

I start my countdown with the "least strange" (ha ha) to most strange. 

#10 - Cochon de Lait (literally 'pig in milk')

The process may not be standard in most kitchens, but the outcome is no more than tender, juicy, delicious pulled pork.  Because the pork is slow cooked from 6-12 hours, the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender.  When Cajuns refer to a "Cochon de Lait," they are talking about an EVENT - not just a dish!  It's a time when a large amount of food (the whole pig) is cooked over a looong amount of time, so there is opportunity for lots of story-telling, "male bonding," and for all the side dishes to be prepared. 



#9 - Cracklins

Once again, the porkers provide us nutrition!  Cracklins are simply fried pork skin, seasoned like only Cajuns can do.  Now don't confuse cracklins with the bags of 'fried pork rinds' you find on the same aisle as the potato chips.  (You may as well eat fried potato sticks and call them hash browns).  Real cracklins are MEAT, not chips.  Yeah, we know that frying pork fat is practically suicide, but nonetheless...have you TRIED this stuff?!  There is an awesome link on the process here:  http://www.deltablues.net/cracklin.html




#8 - Boudin (boo-dan)

Now we are getting into the foods that most non-Cajuns would be afraid to try.  But trust me, boudin is harmless.  It's a fantastic mixture of well seasoned meat and rice, packed into thin sausage casings.  After you taste the heavenly blend of seasonings, you won't give a second thought to the fact that the casings are made from pork intestines.  Boudin is not like sausage in that the filling is fairly soft and loose.  It's typically like a dirty rice mixture stuffed into a casing.  Boudin can be made from pork, alligator, crawfish, and I imagine anything Cajuns caught in their traps this morning.

#7 - Alligator Tail
I'm told the only part of an alligator that's edible is the tail.  (The REAL Cajuns MUST have secret recipes for the other parts of the anatomy!)  This is one of those meats that everyone says "tastes like chicken."  I haven't yet tried it, but I plan to.  Alligator can be fried, grilled, stewed...and much more.  There are a ton of alligator recipes here:  http://www.justgamerecipes.com/inxall.html.  You may not be able to purchase alligator in your area YET, but I'm sure with the hit show Swamp People it won't be long before meat from the roving reptiles will arrive on your grocer's shelves.



#6 - Nutria (aka "Swamp Rat")

If Louisiana had a buck for every nutria that roams the swamps, we would be the richest state in the nation.  Nutria are kind of like nasty, uneducated beavers.  Some wise ass imported nutria in the 1930's to Louisiana for the fur.  Now, some 80 years later, nutria are destroying much of our wetlands by chewing and eating away the very vegetation that helps keep Cajuns from drowing.  But I digress.  I personally don't know anyone who has ever tried nutria, but evidently the market is growing.  All I know is my Daddy, who grew up during the Depression, refused to eat nutria.  That's all I need to convince me to stay away from the furry monsters.  P.S.  There are nutria that live in the canal in my subdivision.  Yuck.


#5 - Pickled Pig Lips

I wish I was joking.  I'm as serious as the heart attack you'd get by eating a couple of jars of these.  And to be honest, I'm not sure that this is even on the menu of your basic Cajun family.  I'm thinking more "Creole," but hey, while I'm writing about strange foods...  Poor pigs.  They don't stand a chance here in Louisiana.  And I don't even have bacon on the list.





#4 - Hogshead Cheese (hogs-head-cheese)

This is NOT cheese. Trust me. Once again, the poor pig loses his dignity.  Every "left over" piece of him that hadn't been baked, fried, pickled, or stewed goes into this mysterious concoction.  It's a gelatinous block of....pork stuff.  According to Wikipedia, "A pig's foot provides the gelatin that sets the cheese, and vinegar is typically added to give a sour taste."  Yeah. You go with that.  Personally, I can't stand the thought of bringing anything "gelatinous" to my mouth (except jello, of course).  But my husband absolutely loves eating hogshead cheese with crackers and hot sauce.  What's in it?  Well, as the name suggests....


#3 - Cow Brains

I know, I know. Sounds like something from Bizarre Foods.  It's pretty bizarre to think about eating a cow's brain, but believe me, it's not unique to Cajuns.  Granted, I can't just waltz up to my local supermarket and have a choice of 20 cow brain packs to choose from, but it wouldn't take me long to find it.  My mother occasionally fried up a batch or two of cow brains when I was a child. Hey, anything tastes good when you deep-fry it in a black cast-iron pot! 




#2 - Cow Tongue

And since we're on the subject of cows... What I want to know is who in the hell decided to try this?  And then someone convinced stores to SELL this stuff!  My kids get grossed out when they see this in the meat department.  I have to make them feel very privileged by telling them how lucky they are that they get the *good* part of the cow to eat.  (Yes, my mom cooked this for us, too!)  I hate to admit it, but I think about this dish every time I brush my hair, you know, with my "cow-lick" and all!


#1 - Tripe

No, that's not a type-o.  I tried to find my dear readers a solid definition, but alas, I kept gagging over my mac and was getting nervous that it would eventually be covered in chunks.  The best I can give you is...intestine 'stuff.'  I found lots of photos of what looked like succulent tripe dishes, but I couldn't bear to click on them.  It was too gross, even for this Cajun girl.



I know at this point all my Cajun friends are asking, "WHERE'S THE CRAWFISH???"  Well, Dawlin, crawfish are sooo special that they will get their very own blog! 

If you enjoyed this blog, you might also enjoy reading this one:
http://open.salon.com/blog/trig_palin/2009/06/08/tongues_feet_things_i_dont_eat_fasting_tuesday