Out of the melting pot of French, Africans, and other groups who made their home in Louisiana over the centuries, there has emerged a true American original--a unique culture, cuisine, and way of life known as Cajun. Full of spice but with a touch of elegance, Cajun cooking is now spread its roots, served up across the country and abroad. From traditional boudin blanc, dirty rice, jambalaya, and bread pudding to innovative new interpretations like a Cajun Thanksgiving feast and a Creole-inflected brunch, Cajun: A Culinary Tour of Louisiana brings the heart of the bayou and its culinary techniques to the kitchen of the home chef. Author Judith Bluysen, owner and operator of a restaurant in Paris that specializes in the dishes of that region, leads you through making the perfect roux, extracting the most flavor with Cajun spices, and preparing seafood to best highlight its freshness. Cajun classics are included alongside inventive new dishes that draw on the rich heritage of this cuisine.

Part cookbook, part cultural tour, Cajun both informs and inspires. The enticing step-by-step recipes for appetizers, main courses, desserts, and lagniappe--those additions to the meals such as sauces and breads--are paired with brief essays that explore the history of the Cajun and Creole people, the distinctive culture of New Orleans, and the author's personal reminiscences of Louisiana. Anecdotes about the rhythms of daily life and beautiful photographs of the area's plantations, indigenous ingredients, and inhabitants evoke all that is magical about Cajun country. A useful list of area inns and restaurants provides the basis for a trip to experience this singular culture firsthand.

Let both the new and classic meals included in Cajun: A Culinary Tour of Louisiana take you on a stimulating voyage through one of our country's most spirited regions.

Juditgh Jailer Bluysen graduated from New York City's School of Visual Arts in 1975. She moved to Paris in 1986 where she immersed herself in teh heritage, lnguage, and cuisine of the City of Lights. Four years later, she and her husband, Frederic, opened the American grocery store Thanksgiving, followed in 1995 by the restaurant of the same name, where she is chef de cuisine. Inspired by the first waitress at her restaurant, a New Orleans native who related lively anecdotes about the relationship in Louisiana of food to everyday life, Bluysen has focused her attention--and her menu--on Cajun cooking.

Jean-Marie del Moral is a photographer specializing in ther subjects of her food, lifetsyle, and interior design. his work has appeared in magazines such as Food and Wine, Gourmet, Madame Figaro, and World of Interiors, as well as in numerous books including Huile d'Olive, Delices d'Orient, and Giverny au temps des impressionistes americanes.