Dictionary

Unofficial Cajun Dictionary

Alligator
a white meat like pork which absorbs spices well when cooked

Andouille
a spicy hot sausage

Awrite
a response to the greetings of "where y'at?"

Ax
means "ask"

Bayou
one of the delta streams or the outlet of a lake or pond

    Beignets
        a squared shape confection served hot sprinkled with powdered sugar, kind of like a
        doughnut without a hole

Bon Appetite
French phrase "good appetite" or "enjoy"

Boudin
Cajun sausage made with rice, pork, liver, and ground meat

Cajun
Native Louisianaian of French Acadian ancestry

Cajun Cooking
"Good!!!" hearty, country-style cooking

Courtbouillon
A thick spicy soup or stew made with fish, tomatoes, onions, and other mixed vegetables

    Crawfish
        miniature lobsters but with better meat flavor. They live in ponds or the freshwater
        bayous

    Creole
        people of mixed Spanish and French blood, who migrated from Europe or were
        born in Southern Louisiana

Da
means "the"

Dat
means "that"

Dem
means "them"

Dis
means "this"

    Dirty Rice
        leftover cooked rice with peppers, liver, giblets, onions, ground meat and
        other ingredients

Dressed
a po-boy sandwich that you want to add lettuce, tomatoes, and mayonnaise to

    Etouffeé
        means "smothered". Cooking method of seafood smothered vegetables in a thin
        tomato sauce gravy, served with rice

Fais Do Do
a street dance party of Cajuns. French for "to make sleep"

Filé
sassafras leaves used in gumbos

French Quarter
the 100th block area of New Orleans settled by Cajuns

Grillades
squares of beef or veal, broiled

Gris-Gris
a voodoo spell

Grits
cooked ground corn or wheat served with butter and salt

    Gumbo
        a thick soup prepared with game or seafood, spices, and vegetables served with
        rice and thickened with okra or filé

Hushpuppies
balls of cornmeal mixture, deep fried until golden brown

Jambalaya
a one pot meal with spicy rice, variety of seafood or meats, and vegetables

Jazz
syncopated music, originated by African American musicians

Lagniappe
Cajun for "something extra"

Laissez les bon temps roulet
"Let the good times roll"

    Mardi Gras
        Fat Tuesday. The first day of the Roman Catholic season of Lent and the day
        before Ash Wednesday

Nannan
godmother

Neutral Ground
piece of land dividing streets or highways

Parish
Louisiana's answer to counties

Parraine
godfather

    Po-Boy
        a five-cent lunch for poor boys. Like a submarine sandwich but made with
        French bread filled with seafood, meatballs, pork, and more

Red Beans and Rice
seasoned red beans cooked with ham or sausage served over rice

Sauce Picanté
spicy sauce with tomatoes, seasoning, and red peppers

Shrimp
used in many Cajun dishes. It is a small shellfish either fried, boiled, or smothered

Stoops
front steps of the house

The Big Easy
"New Orleans" people take it easy here

    Zydeco
        fairly new kind of Cajun dance. A combination of Cajun dance music and African
        blues