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Acadian to Cajun
The Acadians began as French settlers of a region called Acadia — in eastern Canada and northern Maine — but they eventually traveled down the Mississippi River in the 1750s to escape difficult British rule. Near the end of that long river, the Spanish finally welcomed them in what would become Louisiana.
The Acadians settled down and got cooking, developing some of the tastiest food anywhere. Étoufée, boiled crawfish, gumbo filé, and fried catfish became trademark dishes for these folk, whose name was soon shortened to just Cajuns.
Cajun food focuses on local ingredients found in the bayous and river delta, and (unsurprisingly) their menus feature fish and seafood quite often. In addition to the traditional French mirepoix (diced onion, carrot and celery), the Cajuns like to add garlic, cayenne pepper, and plenty of black pepper to make zesty, full flavors.
Although their basic seasoning combination is simply cayenne, salt, pepper, and garlic, it can get much more complex with up to 20 different herbs and spices!
I use eleven different seasonings in my blend (below), which creates a nice combination of spice and flavor. We do like it spicy though, so feel free to adjust the cayenne pepper according to your preferences.
Catfish Magic and Maxim
Catfish can be found nearly everywhere, but I think many folks in the South would claim them as their own. Their meat ranks high on the list of comfort foods for many a Southerner who grew up catching them, rolling them in cornmeal, and frying them.
This document from Southern Foodways Alliance gives non-Southerners a little insight to the lore of the catfish. While Hemmingway’s fish tale may have hooked a Pulitzer, it is the catfish that people sing about, even in front of the President.
Lore and mystique aside, the catfish is often thought of as a bottom feeder. Actually, they are omnivores happy to eat food (worms, bugs, other fish, algae, and plants) wherever they find it — whether it’s on the bottom, at the top, or in between. Catfish actually make up 60% of all aquaculture production in the US.
Most of it available in stores in farmed, but according to the Monterey Bay Seafood Watch, US-farmed catfish is a “Best Choice” because it is sustainably-farmed with a very low risk to the wild population. They are also usually farmed without the use of antibiotics. When buying farmed catfish, make sure it was raised in the US.
Unfortunately, most farmed fish are fed corn, soy, or rice pellets, which are probably contain GMOs. Carolina Classics, a fishery, offers certified antibiotic-free catfish through Whole Foods and Earthfare.
If you have access to wild-caught catfish, or know how to catch and prepare it yourself, that is your best bet for the most flavorful, most healthy fish.
4.75 from 4 votes
Homemade Cajun Seasoning
Delicious with sausage, roast chicken, or our family's favorite Cajun Fried Catfish (see below).
CourseCondiment
CuisineAmerican
Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Servings 5 servings
Calories 29 kcal
Author Lee Burdett
Ingredients
- 2tablespoonspaprika
- 1tablespoongarlic powder
- 1tablespoonsea salt
- 1tablespoonground black pepper
- 1tablespoononion powder
- 1tablespoondried oregano
- 1/2 to 1tablespoonground cayenne pepper
- 1tablespoondried thyme
- 1teaspoonground cumin
- 1teaspoonmarjoram
- 1teaspoonbasil
Instructions
Combine all herbs and spices.
Store in a tightly closed jar.
Recipe Notes
- Use whenever you need a little kick.
Nutrition Facts
Homemade Cajun Seasoning
Amount Per Serving
Calories 29Calories from Fat 9
% Daily Value*
Fat 1g2%
Saturated Fat 1g6%
Sodium 1401mg61%
Potassium 142mg4%
Carbohydrates 6g2%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 1g2%
Vitamin A 1635IU33%
Vitamin C 1mg1%
Calcium 52mg5%
Iron 3mg17%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
4.67 from 3 votes
Cajun Fried Catfish
Accompany with cornbread, greens, baked sweet potatoes, sliced fresh tomatoes, and green onions for a real down home Southern dinner.
CourseMain
CuisineAmerican
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Calories 181 kcal
Author Lee Burdett
Ingredients
- 4fish filletsor about 1-1/2 pounds
- 2tablespoonsCajun seasoningsee recipe, above
- 1teaspoonsea salt
- 1/2cupcornmealstone-ground or sprouted
- 3 to 4tablespoonsbacon drippingslard, or butter (we like bacon drippings!)
- lemon wedgesfor serving
Instructions
Combine seasoning, salt, and cornmeal in shallow pan.
Heat dripping in cast iron skillet over medium high heat.
Rinse the fillets and pat dry.
Dredge the fillets in the cornmeal mixture, coating both sides evenly.
Gently place the fish into the skillet, adjusting heat to medium.
Cook fish on the first side about 4 minutes, then gently turn with a large metal spatula and cook on the other side for another 4 minutes, adding more bacon drippings if necessary to prevent sticking.
Fish is done when it flakes easily with a fork.
Serve with a squeeze of lemon.
Recipe Notes
- Carolina Classics, a fishery, offers certified antibiotic-free catfish through Whole Foods and Earthfare.
- If you have access to wild-caught catfish, or know how to catch and prepare it yourself, that is your best bet for the most flavorful, most healthy fish.
Nutrition Facts
Cajun Fried Catfish
Amount Per Serving
Calories 181Calories from Fat 108
% Daily Value*
Fat 12g18%
Saturated Fat 4g25%
Cholesterol 10mg3%
Sodium 601mg26%
Potassium 144mg4%
Carbohydrates 16g5%
Fiber 3g13%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 3g6%
Vitamin A 1724IU34%
Calcium 8mg1%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Enjoy your down home Southern dinner! Be sure to let me know how spicy you like it!
...without giving up the foods you love or spending all day in the kitchen!
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About Lee Burdett
Lee holds a Masters in Music Education from Florida State and was a band director in her past life. Married to her college sweetheart for over 26 years, she has been homeschooling their two children for the last 9 years. A lifelong foodie, her real food journey got a kickstart when her sister took her to hear Sally Fallon speak on Nourishing Traditional Foods in 2007. Together with her sister, she produced a DVD on making nourishing traditional breads using the soaked flour method. Today Lee is co-leader of her local WAPF chapter, and teaches about real food and alternative health topics to her local community. She is busy pulling out the shrubs from her home in the suburbs of Orlando and replacing them with edible landscaping. She also blogs at Well Fed Family, shares videos on the Well Fed Family YouTube channel, and interacts on all the usual social media networks: Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Reader Interactions
Comments
Jenny Cazzola says My husband really likes catfish but I have yet to acquire a taste for it. We have a pond and have often talked about stocking it in order to raise our own.
Reply
- Micah says
I live in south Louisiana & fried catfish is on the menu at every seafood restaurant. Since reading they are bottom feeders I’ve been a little hesitant to eat it. My daddy always has some in his freezer & the next time we have a fish fry I won’t feel like it is such a guilty pleasure! I’ll try not to think about the oil it’s cooked in & the fish fry he uses to coat & season the catfish… Maybe I’ll just try this myself!
Reply
- Jackie E-S says
Thank you for the Cajun seasoning recipe. We go through quite a bit of the Tony Cachere’s Creole Seasoning as our “go to” mixed spice mixture; even shaking it on our fresh-popped popcorn. I have all the spices on hand for your recipe and am looking forward to making my own as an alternative to buying someone else’s premix. 🙂
I’ve been living in Southern Louisiana for almost 45 years. I love catfish and all the other great seafood of the area. I did see that in your link to Amazon for the “sprouted cornmeal” that the product is actually described as corn flour. I agree with using corn flour (i.e. very finely ground cornmeal) rather than what is commonly thought of as (coarser) cornmeal. Corn flour makes a better coating for frying seafood. It adheres better (and therefore the oil doesn’t sop up into the fish). Also, the coating can be thinner than with using the coarser cornmeal, giving a light crunchy texture which I prefer to a heavier, doughy (and potentially more oily) coating.
Other considerations for those concerned about the oil used for cooking fried seafood. You want to fry at an appropriately high enough temp. This quickly stabilizes the coating and therefore puts up the barrier to minimize the amount of uptake in oil calories that are being added. I would suggestif someone likes the flavor of butter for their frying (that is mentioned as an option in your recipe), that a good option is to use ghee (which is clarified butter that can be brought to a higher smoke point without burning since the mild solids in ghee have been removed).
Thanks again!
Reply
- Lee Burdett says
yes – good idea to use ghee which gives a nice flavor and doesn’t burn, thanks for mentioning that!
Reply
- Amy Bayliss says
Merci beaucoup! I just signed up here and am so glad to find that you are featuring some good ol’ Cajun food. My ancestry is predominantly French (1/2 Acadian French, 1/4 Canadian French) so of course I was excited to see a focus on the food culture here in Southern Louisiana.
I’d love to see more variations of Cajun food: gumbo, Étouffée, shrimp and grits, and jambalaya. Making a roux is not easy when you can’t use flour. I just haven’t found a suitable substitute. I can do without most of the foods I grew up with but it would be nice to figure out a way to make them healthier.
I also wanted to mention that the voyage of the French down the river into Louisiana is actually the French Canadians and not the Acadians. My paternal grandmother’s ancestors made that voyage in the 1750s and they were all originally from the Quebec and Montreal area. They never settled in the area of Acadie. It is correct that they left to escape difficult British rule.
The Acadians (Cajuns) who settled in the New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia area (Acadie) were expelled for their religious beliefs during the Le Grande Derangement in or around 1755 but were adrift on ships, sent back to France, or placed in slums in the north east states until the mid 1760s. My mother’s Acadian ancestors were on the first fleet of ships that carried the Acadians to Louisiana and they did not arrive here until 1765.
It is a common misconception that the French Canadians and French Acadians are one in the same however the culture could not be more different. There are great distinctions since they came from different regions in France and settled in different areas and time periods in Canada (Acadians arriving in Acadie around the 1630s & French Canadians arriving in the Quebec area around the 1680s). The Acadians originally lived on the southern border of France near Spain which is why the Acadian French they speak often contains Spanish words and pronunciations. The French Canadians were originally from the north west region of France near the Mediterranean.
I didn’t mean to give a history lesson there…I guess I can’t help it. I’m a homeschool mom. Anyways, thank you again!
Reply
- Lee Burdett says
Thanks for the history lesson – always appreciated! My dad grew up in Northern Maine where there are lots of French speakers and “Acadian” everything. We’ve taken the kids (homeschool fieldtrip!) to visit the Acadian History centers and living history villages in the area – but I still wasn’t clear on the distinction.
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- Sailaja says
Came out tasty cajun seasoning but please put quarter of table spoon of sea salt only.
I felt salty with one whole tablespoon the way mentioned in above recipe and I could not undo it.
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