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Going up to Cajun country
Appears in
By Nisha Katona
Published 2017
Rice proved to be a valuable commodity in early Cajun country. With an abundance of water and a hot, humid climate, rice could be grown practically anywhere in the region and grew wild in some areas. So it became the predominant starch, easy to grow, store and prepare.
Cajun cuisine is ‘country cooking’ in Louisiana. A truly Cajun meal is usually tripartite. One pot is dedicated to the main dish, one pot is dedicated to steamed rice and a third will contain the vegetable element.
With no access to modern-day luxuries like refrigerators, early Cajuns learned to make use of every part of a slaughtered animal. When a pig is butchered the event is called a boucherie. Boudin, a type of Cajun sausage that consists of pork meat, rice and seasoning stuffed into a casing, also commonly contains pig liver for a little extra flavour. And it is the liver that gives dirty rice its hardcore look and its deep flavour. I use chicken liver in this recipe as it is easy to buy and I find it to be sweeter and more chocolatey than pig livers. Pig livers taste fattier and pinker, if that makes sense. We want brown to the eye and brown to the taste in this dish.