Alligator                                                                                             U.S. State Agencies:
         A white meat with a texture like pork which is perfect for                   CLICK HERE

         absorbing the spices it is cooked with.                                                

Alligator Pear                                                                                    Boone and Crockett:
         Avocado or Mirliton (vegetable pear)                                                   CLICK HERE

  Andouille                                                                                            International Regulations:
         A spicy country sausage.                                                                       CLICK HERE                                                              

"Anyways"                                                                                           
           A Yat word meaning "And, then" or "and, so".

"Aw-rite"
           The appropriate response to the greeting "Where y'at?"

"Ax"
           A Yat word meaning "ask".

Banquette
         A Yat word meaning "the sidewalk".

Bayou
         The outlet of a lake or one of the delta streams of a river.

Beignets
         A fried pastry, which is a cross between a cruller & doughnut

         without the hole,   a square shaped confection   served hot and

         liberally sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Bon Appetite!
          French phrase meaning literally "good appetite" or "Enjoy!"

Boudin
         A Cajun sausage with cooked rice mixed into the stuffing.

Cafe Brulot
         An after-dinner brew, which is a blend of hot coffee, spices, orange peel,

         and liqueurs. It is blended in a  chafing dish, ignited, and served in special cups.

Cafe Au Lait
         Coffee and Chicory blend with milk. Usually a half-and-half mixture of hot coffee

         and hot milk.

Cajun
         A native of Louisiana of French Acadian ancestry.

Cajun Cooking
         A hearty, agrarian-style of cooking.

Cher (r is silent) (Sha)
         Honey or dear  when speaking to the opposite sex, buddy or pal when addressing
         same sex
        

Chicory
         An herb, the roots of which are dried, ground, roasted and used to flavor coffee.

Cochon De Lait
        A Cajun tradition, in which a young pig was roasted over an open pit. Today, this

        describes a method of  preparing pork.

Court bouillon
         A rich, spicy soup or stew made with fish fillets, tomatoes, onions, and mixed vegetables.

Crawfish (crayfish) (craw daddy)
          Resemble lobsters, but are much smaller and have sweeter meat. Also called

          "mudbugs" or "crayfish."  They live and grow in the mud of freshwater bayous.

           In Louisiana we live for the first crawfish of the season so we can gather our friends

           for that first crawfish boil!

Crawfish Boil
          A sack of crawfish (bout 40#) lots of hot seasonings, corn on the cob, artichokes,
          sausage and anything else we can think of to make that pot boil good.  Done in
          a big boiling pot.  Invite the friends and don't forget the beer!

Creole
         A person of European Spanish descent of mixed African blood ancestry.

Crescent City
         Nickname for New Orleans that is located at a bend of the Mississippi River
         that is shaped like a crescent.

"Da"
           A Yat word meaning "the".

"Dat"
           A Yat word meaning "that".

"Dem"
          A Yat word meaning "them".

"Dis"
           A Yat word meaning "this".

Dirty Rice
         Pan-fried leftover cooked rice sautéed with green peppers, onion, celery, stock,
         liver, giblets and many other ingredients.

Do-Do (Make Do-Do)
         To go to sleep, one of the first terms some  Louisiana children learn. (Se Fais do-do)

Dressed
          Referring to a sandwich or PO-Boy, this means 'add mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomatoes.'

Esplanade
         A walkway.

Etouffee
         French word meaning "smothered." A method of cooking seafood smothered
         in vegetables in a succulent tomato-based sauce to create a stewed-like seafood
         entree. Served with rice. (I've cooked my share of these with crawfish and shrimp)

Fais do do
          Party where a traditional Cajun dance is performed. Children were brought to these dances
          and gathered together later in the night in a room to go to sleep, while the adults
          enjoyed the dance. So you now understand Do-Do.
          French phrase meaning literally "to make sleep."

File' (fee-lay)
         Ground sassafras leaves used to season gumbo and other dishes.

French Quarter
         The one hundred block area in New Orleans originally settled by the French. Surprisingly,
         the architecture of the French Quarter is credited to the Spanish.

Garry
        Porch-(This is where my grandparents sent us kids when
                      they wanted have some adult conversation)

Grillades
         Squares of broiled beef or veal.

Gris-Gris
         A (voodoo) spell.

Grits
         Coarsely ground wheat or corn, cooked down in water and served with salt and butter.

Gumbo
      (From "kingombo", African word for okra) This vegetable was brought to
      New Orleans by African slaves,  considered to have both spiritual and health properties.
      From slavery it became a principal ingredient in  many gumbos, along
      with rice and seafood, and a powder called file' (described above) was
      the inspiration of the Choctaw  Indians ( of which I am proudly descended)
     

Hushpuppies
         A cornbread-type mixture formed into balls & fried until crispy & golden on the outside.

Jambalaya
         A spicy rice based one-pot meal that combines any variety of seafood, meats, & vegetables.
         Hank Williams Sr. made famous a country western song 
         using Jambalaya , crawfish pie, file'   gumbo as part of his lyrics.

Jazz
          Rhythmic syncopated music, often improvised, that was originated by African American musicians.

King Cake (Click here for more)
         A ring shaped oval pastry, decorated with colored sugar in the traditional
         Mardi Gras colors (purple-justice, green-faith, and gold-power)
         A small plastic baby is hidden inside the cake. The person who gets
         the baby in their piece is traditionally supposed to provide the next King Cake.
         We've used this tradition in some carnival krewes to chose the next King for
         that organization.

Lagniappe (Aren't you happy I gave you some with the list of Louisiana  terms-Kerry)
         Cajun word for "something extra."

Laissez les bon temps roulette
          Literally means to "Let the good times roll!"

Levee
         A system of embankments built to help contain the Mississippi River and prevent
          large areas from flooding.   The existence of New Orleans as we know it today
          would not be had it not been for the levee system.

Mardi Gras
         Commonly called Fat Tuesday - the day before Ash Wednesday and the first day

         of the Roman Catholic season of Lent. 

Mirliton
          A hard-shelled vegetable with edible insides. It is cooked like
          squash and stuffed with meat and spicy dressing. It is a vine grower.  Eric and  I
          marinate these in pickling spices.

Mudbug
         Another first word learned by me, actually our term for crawfish.

Muffuletta
         A large sandwich made up of thick layers of several different types
         of Italian meats and cheeses and a layer of olive salad. Served on
         special seeded Muffuletta bread. 

Nannan
         Word meaning godmother

Neutral Ground
         The strip of land dividing a highway or street into two parallel lanes. Where most of us
         when in New Orleans set up our families for the parades during Mardi Gras.

Parish
         A Louisiana state district. Analogous to the word "county".  We have 64 parishes

         in Louisiana.

Parrain
           Word meaning godfather.

Pirogue
         My grandfather was a trapper and he used this small, shallow boat to get around
          the swamps of Louisiana. Rarely can it hold more than 2 people.

PO-Boy
         Got its name by beginning as a five-cent lunch for poor boys.
         A sandwich that is always made with French bread and can be filled
         with different fried seafood, roast beef and gravy, pork, meatballs, and more.

Praline
         A candy patty made of sugar, vanilla, cream or evaporated milk, and pecans. (Quite fattening)

Red Beans & Rice
         Red beans cooked with ham or sausage and seasonings and served over rice. 
         Typically a dish served in the New Orleans area every Monday for Lunch.

Roux (Brown Gravy)
         First you need a roux (rew) Yep I learned this one to from my grandmother! Aren't
          traditions great.  It is the base for many Louisiana dishes (a slow browning of oil
          and flour) It is what makes our gumbo great. 

Sauce Piquante
         A spicy sauce containing tomatoes, red peppers, and seasonings.

Shrimp
          A small shellfish, which can be fried, boiled, smothered, etc. and is used in many Cajun dishes. 

Stoop
         The front steps to a house.

The Big Easy
          Nickname for New Orleans meaning people here take it easy, our laid back style.

Vieux Carre
         French phrase meaning "old quarter," which refers to the French Quarter.

Where y'at?
         A typical New Orleanian greeting. The origin of the term "Yat".

Who Dat
         A typical die hard New Orleans Saints Fan (In case you don't know they
          are our NFL football team). And who dat say de gonna bet dem Saints,
          is surely being chanted these days. When you're not a Who Dat, your
          probably an Ain't. Less the S when the team is in the dumper.

Yall and  Ya know
          Short for You all - what you hear  a lot of  when visiting Louisiana ya know!

Yat
         A term for the quintessential neighborhood New Orleanian. Many if not most,
         New Orleanians use yat speak a little or all of the time,
         but not all New Orleanians are Yats.

Zydeco
        A relatively new kind of Cajun dance music. It is a combination
        of traditional Cajun dance music and African blues. Zydeco is gaining
        in national and international popularity, you can actually book on a Zydeco Cruise.

KING CAKES
Established as part of Mardi Gras tradition by the early 19th century,
king cakes are the social link between Twelfth Night, which marks the
arrival of the three kings bringing gifts to the Christ Child, and Fat Tuesday.
This oval shaped pastry is decorated with colored sugar in the official
Mardi Gras colors of Purple, green, and gold.  The cake contains  a
hidden surprise that has evolved from a coin, lucky bean, or pecan to
a plastic baby.  The person who finds the baby in his slice of the
cake is crowned king/queen and must host the next party. Which we
call a King Cake Party.  The King Cake has gained such national popularity
that it is now shipped nationwide and filled with various jellies and cream
puddings.