Writer Terry Thompson-Anderson devoted a chapter of her book, "Cajun/Creole Cooking" to Italian-Creole cuisine. Here's an excerpt on the Spanish-Creole influence found in Italian-Creole cooking: "Conversely, the Spanish roots of the Creole cuisine had a profound impact on Sicilian-American foods. An entire sub-cuisine evolved within the Creole cooking of New Orleans. Today some of New Orleans' finest restaurants are owned by descendants of these Creole-Italians. They serve excitingly different food that started out many years ago as robust Sicilian fare but that, through the years of Creole influence, developed its current piquant patina - due largely to the Spanish love of ground chilies. After you've eaten two or three bites and a warm, titillating glow has developed at the back of your throat, you realize that this is no ordinary spaghetti sauce!"
Comments