FIRST YOU MAKE A ROUX . . . . . .

ROUX: A base for stew, gumbo and sauce piquant made of flour and oil mixed into a paste and browned.

Andouille (ahn-doo-i) -- most popular Cajun smoked pure pork sausage

Bell pepper -- a green pepper

Crab boil -- Spices for boiling crab, shrimp and crawfish that is strong, pungent and spicy.

Crawfish -- a Louisiana delicacy. They may be called "mudbugs", "crayfish" or "crawdads" but whatever you call 'em, they have a wonderful, delicate flavor.

Creamed potatoes -- mashed potatoes

Creole tomatoes -- a special variety of tomatoes grown in this area that are very juicy and have a unique taste. Alas, they are in season for only a few weeks in the spring.

Dirty rice -- a rice dressing containing cooked rice, ground gizzards and pork/chicken livers seasoned with garlic, onion, bell pepper and celery. The ground meats give it a brownish or "dirty" color.

English peas -- green peas or petite pois

Etouffee -- literally means smothered; in Louisiana cooking it signifies covered with a liquid.

Grits -- ground hominy; a ground meal of dried and hulled corn kernels that is boiled and served as a breakfast food or as a side dish.

Gumbo -- a Cajun soup almost always containing a cooked roux and sometimes thickened with okra or gumbo file'. It usually contains a variety of vegetables and meat or seafood and is served over rice.

Jambalaya (djum-buh-lie-ya) -- a rice dish highly seasoned and strongly flavored with any combinations of beef, pork, fowl, smoked sausage, ham (or tasso) or seafood and often containing tomatoes.

Red gravy -- or tomato gravy; a thin red sauce made with tomatoes and seasonings; can be used as a spaghetti sauce.

Sauce piquant -- a thick sauce with a tomato base seasoned with garlic, onions, bell peppers etc. It usually is made spicier by adding cayenne pepper. Served on fish and game.

Smother -- braise or cover a foodstuff thickly with another foodstuff and liquid and cook slowly in a covered container.

Tasso (tah-so) -- a very highly seasoned Cajun smoked ham

Bon Appetite!