Spicing things up: For Mardi Gras dinners, don't skimp on the garlic and peppers

By: GARY WARTH - Staff Writer | Wednesday, January 30, 2008 8:49 PM PST ∞

No, that's not a typo in the cookbook.

If you're cooking Creole or Cajun food, you might be surprised by the amount of seasoning in some recipes, cautioned chef Kai Peyrefitte of the San Diego Culinary Institute.

"A lot of people get very nervous about seasoning their food," Peyrefitte said. "You can't be shy about seasoning food down South."

There's no particular season for Southern food, but if there is one day that reminds people of gumbo, jambalaya and crawfish boils, it's Mardi Gras, which falls on Feb. 5 this year.

In North County, Bistro 221 in Escondido is one restaurant planning a special menu for the day, but with ingredients for the cuisine plentiful at local stores, cooks may want to try to whip up their own Southern celebration.

Novice cooks trying to make their own Mardi Gras dinners should trust recipes and not be timid about seasoning, advised Peyrefitte, who said second-guessing ingredients is the most common error people make with the recipes.

Peyrefitte was born in Florida and raised on Southern cuisine prepared by his father, a New Orleans native.

"My dad does a Cajun garlic shrimp, and my father's recipe calls for one head of garlic in the broth for every pound of shrimp," he said. "Most people, when they see that, they think that's way too much garlic, so they put in one clove of garlic."

Preparing blackened catfish without burning it and mixing spices that don't overpower taste may sound intimidating, but Peyrefitte stressed that the cuisine at its core is simple and came from a rural region where people cooked with whatever they could find.

For the past few years, Peyrefitte has taught average Joes to cook Louisiana cuisine at the annual Gator by the Bay festival at Spanish Landing Park, Harbor Island, in San Diego. This year's event will be May 9-11.

"My favorite thing to do is show people how to do the crawfish boil," he said. "A traditional crawfish boil can have anything in the world in it. Cajuns would make this rich broth with garlic and onions and lemon, and salt it until it tastes like salt water. Cook it up for 45 minutes or an hour, and whatever they had at their disposal would go into the pot."

Southern roots

Such dishes are uniquely Cajun and come from the rural South, where French descendants threw everything they had in a large pot of simmering, spicy broth, Peyrefitte said. Creole cuisine uses similar ingredients, but is a little more refined. The style, created in New Orleans, is blend of French, Spanish, French Caribbean, African and American influences.

Outside Louisiana, the terms Creole and Cajun are largely interchangeable in describing jambalaya, red beans and rice, blackened fish, gumbo and similar dishes. Both cuisines are associated with Mardi Gras, held the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.

Bistro 221 in Escondido will hold its seventh annual Mardi Gras celebration on Tuesday with food and live music by the Big Easy Jazz Band.

"I do a gumbo, but it's my own version of a gumbo," said chef Kent Daigle, who with his parents co-owns the restaurant at 221 E. Grand Ave., Escondido.

Daigle's gumbo includes a little cream, making it more like a bisque. Because of its thicker consistency, Daigle does not serve rice with it. In another departure from tradition, he also does not include okra. While at least one customer voiced her objection over the variation, Daigle said others, including some from New Orleans, have called his the best gumbo they've tasted.

For $25, diners will get a set menu that includes gumbo, Cajun red snapper and veal scallopini -- thinly sliced veal stuffed with spicy andouille sausage. The menu also will include roasted pork tenderloin and bread pudding, his most popular dessert.

Daigle, who spent five years on the Gulf Coast, described Cajun cuisine as "good home-style cooking."

"The flavors and spices are what I love," he said. "But there's more to the cuisine than just fiery spices. Things that are really too hot and over the top, you can't taste them, but when you get flavors that blend together real well, it's just a good start to life."

Just as much French cuisine starts with a mirepoix, a combination of celery, onions and carrots, Creole and Cajun cuisine are often based on celery, onions and bell peppers, a combination known as the "Holy Trinity."

Shellfish also is abundant in the area and is used in many dishes. Southern Crawfish, however, are not abundant in San Diego County, which can be a challenge.

Daigle said his one attempt at including them on his Mardi Gras menu will not be repeated.

"Getting the live crawfish here was such a pain in the butt that I'm never doing that again," he said. "They can't have anything alive on the meat trucks. They sent out a different truck, and charged me for that, too. If I'd known all that, I definitely wouldn't have gotten the live crawfish."

Frozen crawfish can be found at Major Market in Escondido and Fallbrook; and crawfish, frog legs, alligator sausage and many other Louisiana products are available at the Mardi Gras Cafe and Marketplace, 3185 Midway Drive, San Diego. Owner Skip Antonelli moved to San Diego from New Orleans 20 years ago and said he started the market because he could not find Louisiana products locally.

"This is our busiest time of year," he said. "People forget about Mardi Gras during the year, and then they hear about it and think, 'Oh yeah, let's go get some food.' "

His market stocks 400 types of hot sauces, chicory coffee, beignet mixes and frozen crawfish meat. Antonelli said customers drive from Los Angeles just for his dirty-rice-filled boudin, or sausage.

For people who plan a Southern dinner to celebrate Mardi Gras, Antonelli recommends classic fare such as jambalaya, gumbo and red beans and rice.

While the Mardi Gras Cafe stocks several specialty items, Peyrefitte said most ingredients for Creole and Cajun cuisine can be found at any grocery store. He recommends people interested in learning about cooking Cajun food to make a Cajun fire pot.

"It's actually really easy and a lot of fun," he said.

Peyrefitte uses lobsters he traps himself, but chicken, shrimp and sausage also can be used. After cooking, it's served by dumping the ingredients on a table covered with newspaper. At home, Peyrefitte makes enough for 12 to 15 people and spaces the seats out to include trash cans between couples.

"You sit there and eat and eat," he said. "It's all about using your hands and having a good time with friends."

-- Contact staff writer Gary Warth at (760) 740-5410 or gwarth@nctimes.com.