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Southern Spices

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Aside from crawfish and alligator, most major ingredients in New Orleans cuisine are available nationwide. What makes the food so unique is its mixing and matching of spices and seasonings, many which can now be ordered online. Due to the increasing popularity of Cajun food, even gator meat and live crawfish can be shipped anywhere in the country. A list of spices could go on forever, but here are some of the most important:

Cayenne Pepper
This red-hot powder is made from cayenne chilies and often used with a combination of white and black ground peppers.

Crab and Crawfish Boil
These spices are a necessity for boiling New Orleans-style seafood. Coming in a floe-through packet or as liquid concentrate, it is used to flavor the water in which the seafood is boiled. The most popular and well known brands are Zatarains, Rex, and Tony Chachere's.

Creole Mustard
This thick, spicy mustard is often used on poboys as well as in many dishes. It can also be used as a marinade for chicken and goes well with sausage. The most common brands are Zatarains and Horse Shoe. Some say that it is somewhat similar to Dijon mustard, but with more seasoning and spices.

File Powder
Made from dried and ground sassafras leaves, file powder is often used as a seasoning powder and thickening agent in gumbo. The most popular brands are Zatarain's, Rex, and Yogi.

Fish Fry
Zatarains is most famous for their packs of fish fry, which come already seasoned with a variety of spices. The coarse, powdery substance is also used to fry other seafoods, as well as chicken and vegetables such as okra.

Other Sauces & Spices
There are a variety of other seasonings and sauces for meat, poultry, and seafood. Companies seem to come and go, and the options in the French Market are limitless. "Cajun Power" is an excellent sauce that is becoming more popular with seafoods and meats. Mainstream powders and seasonings such as oregano, garlic powder, and onion powder are often used in New Orleans cuisine.

Packaged Foods
There are a number of packaged foods that make excellent gifts, or that can serve as a taste of New Orleans in your own home. Tony Chachere's and Zatarains both make excellent packages of red beans and rice, jambalya, white beans and rice, dirty rice, gumbo, and etouffe. All that is needed is chicken, ground meat or sausage. The mixes are readily found in local supermarkets as well as tourist shops. Also popular is beignet mix from the Café du Monde.

Tabasco
With worldwide availability, this has become known as the king of all sauces. It has been made on Avery Island by the McIlhenny family since the 1880s and is used as a table sauce and cooking ingredient. There are also a few different flavors, such as the mild green jalepeño, garlic Tabasco, and Habendo Tabasco. Although Tabasco is the original and most popular, there are more than 80 different brands of the sauce made in Louisiana, and every brand has its own different style. Thousands of bottles line the walls of the French Market. Crystal and Louisiana Red Hot are also popular. Then there are the others such as "Hot Ass Sauce", "Bottled Inferno" and "Devil's Potion".

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