New Orleans is famed throughout the world for its love of music and its passion for food.  A rich cooking pot of differing cultures and histories has resulted in creating an incredibly diverse urban area just waiting to be explored.  Located in the southern state of Louisiana, the city straddles the Mississippi River as it filters into the Gulf of Mexico by way of a dense and leafy network of swamplands.  Louisianan cuisine takes influence from a huge range of cultures, combining French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Native American, and African traditions to create a multitude of distinctive signature dishes.  The developments of food, music and culture in the region have come to be known as components of Creole culture, with unique brands of ‘soul food’ and ‘soul music’ becoming synonymous with the American south and New Orleans in particular.
 
Two main food traditions are prevalent in New Orleans and the surrounding areas: Creole cuisine and Cajun Cuisine.  Although Creole food is strongly associated with urban New Orleans today, its origins lie in the much more rustic setting of Louisianan plantation estates.  Many Creole dishes developed as settlers attempted to recreate French, Spanish and other European dishes using the ingredients that were most readily available to them in their new home.  Louisiana’s strong connection to the Mississippi River and to the bayou wetlands that surround it means that many of the resulting recipes featured seafood such as crayfish, oyster, catfish, shrimp and lobster.  Cajun cuisine involves similar influences and ingredients to Creole food, but is derived from completely different origins.  The Cajun people were French-speaking settlers who were exiled from Canada by the British in the late 1750s.  They fled to Louisiana, bringing their traditional cooking techniques with them before applying them to local food staples to create distinctive new recipes and flavours.
 
Jambalaya
 
A hearty main dish that is a testament to the diverse origins of New Orleans cuisine, jambalaya is a rice dish which closely resembles the Spanish dish paella.  Its name is thought to originate from a phrase used by the Atakapa Native Americans indigenous to Louisiana and other woodland areas along the Gulf of Mexico.  The phrase translates to "Be full, not skinny.  Eat Up." and was used in a similar way to the French phrase, "Bon appétit."
 
The dish has many variants, but most commonly the recipe starts by calling for a mixture of chopped celery, onion and bell peppers, a mixture that is often referred to as the “holy trinity” of Creole cooking.  Meat is then added, which is frequently chicken and French sausage.  A combination of local vegetables and fresh seafood is added next, which often differs depending on season, area and personal taste.  Rice and stock is the final addition, giving the dish its signature flavours and filling bulk.  ‘Mother’s Restaurant’ near to New Orleans’ waterfront is considered to be one of the best places in the city to sample jambalaya.  A family-founded restaurant first opened in 1938, ‘Jerry’s Jambalaya’ represents the culmination of decades of experience in preparing delicious Creole food.
 
Gumbo
 
A Creole dish that originated in Louisiana in the 18^th Century, gumbo’s main influences come from Native American and African sources.  A thick stew that is strongly flavoured and utilises meat, seafood and vegetables, this hugely popular dish has been a staple meal in the region since it was first popularised.  Due to differences in season, location and resources, the meat or seafood used in gumbo varies considerably, and can traditionally include chicken, duck, squirrel, rabbit, alligator, shrimp, crab, or oysters.  Other strong flavours in the dish are provided by herbs and vegetables such as parsley, onion, celery and peppers.  To give the broth its characteristic thickness, okra, roux or sassafras leaves are used, giving some idea to the dish’s diverse ancestry. 
 
While gumbo is one of the most widespread Creole meals available throughout New Orleans and the rest of Louisiana, some haute cuisine restaurants in the city have developed their own specialities that should not be missed.  ‘Galatoire’s Restaurant’, a fine dining institution in New Orleans’ French Quarter that has been in business for more than 100 years, offers a sumptuous seafood okra gumbo and a rich duck and Andouille gumbo to delight the taste buds.
 
Blackened Redfish
 
A recent invention of Cajun cuisine that renewed national and international interest in the food of New Orleans, blackened redfish is one of the signature dishes of the chef Paul Prudhomme.  His technique of blackening involves dipping uncooked fish or meat in melted butter, before coating it in an aromatic mixture of herbs and spices.  Commonly used flavours include combinations of thyme, oregano, chili pepper, peppercorns, salt, garlic powder and onion powder.  The food is then cooked in a very hot cast-iron skillet, resulting in a crisp brown finish of seared butter and spices.  Redfish, otherwise known as red drum, are a common fish found in the Gulf of Mexico, and they are the product most frequently cooked in this manner.  They are prized for their clean flavours and solid, tender flesh, which is well complemented by the strong flavours of the herbs and spices.
 
Paul Prudhomme’s exclusive restaurant, ‘K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen’ is one of the best places in New Orleans to sample this distinctive blackened redfish.  Located in the city’s historic French Quarter, the restaurant’s team of chefs take traditional cooking methods very seriously, to that point that there is not a single freezer in any of their kitchens.  This helps ensure that only the freshest of ingredients go into each dish.
 
Oysters Rockefeller
 
Oysters Rockefeller is a unique Creole dish that was devised by Jules Alciatore and debuted in his family-owned restaurant based in New Orleans’ French Quarter in 1899. ‘Antoine’s’, is still open for business on the same premises today, and is still the only place visitors can sample authentic Rockefeller Oysters, as Jules Alciatore kept his recipe a strictly guarded secret between himself and his team of chefs.  Critical consensus agrees that no other restaurant or chef has successfully replicated this delicious signature dish.  First opened in 1840 by Jules’ father Antoine Alciatore, Antoine’s is the oldest family-run restaurant in the United States and a vital part of Creole food culture.
 
Named after John D. Rockefeller - a famed American business magnate of the time - due to the rich flavours of the dish, in this meal oysters are served on the half-shell, topped with a mixture of herbs, butter, bread crumbs and other ingredients before being baked or broiled.  The recipe was first devised as New Orleans suffered a shortage of imported French snails, substituting them for the oysters that could be found right on Jules Alciatore’s doorstep.  A range of possible ingredients for the dish’s rich sauce have been theorised, including parsley, celery, chives, olive oil, capers and even absinthe, but no one has yet been able to recreate this authentic New Orleans taste.
 
New Orleans Blues
 
New Orleans is dedicated to music as much as it is food. Out of the many styles to come out of the city, it’s most famous is blues music, a genre that developed in 19^th Century Louisiana and other southern states of the USA.  Developed by African-American communities from work songs, chants, spiritual singing and narrative ballads, the distinctive ‘blues’ sound can be heard in a huge variety of subsequent genres, including jazz, rock and rhythm and blues. 
 
One of the best areas of New Orleans for discovering and enjoying the traditional sounds of blues-influenced music is Frenchmen Street, a two-block area just outside of the French Quarter that is packed with iconic music venues.  One such venue is the ‘Snug Harbour Jazz Bistro’, a bar, restaurant and jazz club where patrons can enjoy delicious Creole and Cajun food whilst soaking up the distinctive atmosphere and the sounds of the best jazz musicians New Orleans has to offer.  Some of the other legendary venues around the city include ‘Tipitina’s’, a historic juke bar that is a fantastic place to enjoy rhythm and blues, along with traditional Cajun music.  ‘The Preservation Hall’ is also a feted music destination located in the French Quarter that specialises in raucous, party-starting jazz – take the time to hunt down these music joints, because it’s impossible to get a true taste of New Orleans without spending an evening soaking up the smoky blues and sampling the incredible cuisine. 

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