What Makes Louisiana Cuisine So Passionately Controversial?

(KMDL-FM) Louisiana is a state that is no stranger to controversy. From the shenanigans of several New Orleans Mayors, to What Happened to all that Katrina Money, to the infamous World's Fair of 1984, we have had a lot of things to argue about. However, none of those topics compares to the arguments and all-out fist fights that we will have among ourselves and others over food.

Food is sacred in Louisiana. Heck, we call an assemblage of certain ingredients the "Holy Trinity", which should give you an idea of where food and food preparation rank in Louisiana. We are a people who do a lot with a little. And we are proud of that.

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What we do not share an abundance of pride in are recipes that claim to be authentic Louisiana, or Cajun, or Creole, and they wind up being miserable facades of what the original recipes stand for. What if you could only judge how good a fish was by talking to Mrs Paul's first? She's not bad, she's just not fresh caught out of the Gulf, good, if you know what we mean.

What Are Some of the Most Controversial Foods In Louisiana?

A great Louisiana food writer and cooking enthusiast in Lafayette, Louisiana, once asked the question, "Can a Po-Boy Really be Overstuffed?" I would not be surprised if Heaven's switchboard isn't still getting calls about that question. But the answer we are looking for today isn't necessarily about quantity on a plate. We are delving deeper into the cultural divides that can only be settled with a fork, spoon, and knife.

As you see, even among the Cajun and Creole cultures, there are serious controversies regarding food. Gumbo is a dish that comes to mind. We all have our own recipes. We all have our preference of chicken and sausage, seafood, or some other combination of proteins. And while we might not "love" another person's gumbo recipe, as long as they don't put tomatoes in it, we can tolerate the effort.

The real controversy regarding gumbo is potato salad. I have seen families torn apart by the choices regarding potato salad and gumbo. It's deeply personal. But as much as the misuse of potato salad in and around a gumbo pot can be. It's still not the most controversial food in Louisiana, according to Google.

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Google Says This Is The Most Controversial Food in Louisiana

Let me set that up for you this way: in Louisiana, we make a dish called Jambalaya. It's pretty famous; people have recorded songs about it. Also, in Louisiana, we enjoy pasta. We do have a strong Italian influence in our state. You guessed it, the most controversial food in Louisiana is when you replace the rice in jambalaya with pasta and call it pastalaya.

I realize I have just made some of you very angry. But before you tell me to 6th letter myself and the horse I bet on at Evangeline Downs, don't shoot the messenger. I am simply reporting to you what Google returns when you query, "What is the most controversial food in Louisiana?"

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What's interesting about this "controversy" is that there is a very vocal side of the argument that swears you simply can't make the dish using pasta. It violates some sacred code of Louisiana cooking. That group is pretty loud.

Then there are the folks who must like pastalaya. We offer that statement in an almost unconfirmed kind of tone because the pastalaya fans aren't that vocal. They just like it, they eat it, they're fine with it. It's almost as if their mindset is they like the chicken and the sausage and the seasoning, and they don't really care what the starch supporting the mixture happens to be.

And if all of this discussion of food has made you hungry and you don't have time to cook, well, give these places a look, not sure if they offer pastalya but their gumbo comes highly rated by you.