Saturday 4th February from 6pm into the night!
Thanks to the 80 local residents who have booked in at Rosie’s for our upcoming Cajun Cooking night on Saturday February 4th!
Read More about the Cajun ingredients behind the dinner below!
Our bookings are now limited and we have openings only for another dozen or so persons max from 8:30pm and later at this point. It’s unlikely we’ll be able to accept walk-ins, so please book now on 6556 5405 if you’d like to take part in the evening.
It’s going to be a wild night, plenty of good music, and we have six big tables already. We’ll have extra ice on-hand for BYO, and our outdoor garden area is open for kids and dining if preferred.
A Great Night Out
On top of enjoying some truly delicious Louisiana cuisine, you’ll have a great evening with Cajun music and decorations too! Laissez les bons temps rouler! (Let the good times roll!)
JRCPA President David Shepard, talks about some of the highlights of Cajun cuisine featured at the big night, to benefit the local progress association.
“It’s all good basic food that everyone loves, with one of the favourites, “Jambalaya” combining smoked ham, Cajun sausage, and chicken with rice. We're making everything nice and mild, but do not be afraid of using the Louisiana hot sauce or cayenne pepper on your table for some extra kick!”
“Of course, good-quality fresh crayfish is the most important ingredient,” he continues. “We’ll be using live locally-caught crayfish -- that delicate flavour makes all the difference, it’s so sweet and light when fresh!” All crayfish are processed strictly according to current RSPCA guidelines.
Herbs from the Rosie’s herb garden compliment most dishes, with the accent on fresh ingredients from local gardens. Tables will also feature a sampling of herbs used, including Gumbo Filé (from the sassafras tree), Louisiana Bay, and a traditional Cajun spice mix.
Fun and a Free Dinner Too!
Each table will be set with interesting information on the food, the culture and the traditions of the Cajun people, as well as some common phrases. Door prizes will be awarded through the night, and each table goes into the draw for a free dinner for two at the next dinner night in Johns River.
Just $30 for the full three-course dinner also includes your choice of traditional Bread Pudding, Lemon Icebox Pie, or Cajun Hot Fudge Sundae. Beverages included are either Cajun coffee (cafe au lait) or Louisiana Iced Tea with mint and lemon.
You’re welcome to BYO for just $5 corkage per table. Corkage is FREE for members of the Johns River Community Progress Association, or the Three Brothers Network. Portion of proceeds to benefit the Johns River Community Progress Association.
Read More about the Cajun ingredients behind the dinner below!
“Cuisine Acadienne” means Cajun cooking to locals across the Cajun country spanning from Texas to Mississippi, encompassing all of Southern and parts of central Louisiana.
It has identifiable French roots, but is also one of the first cohesive North American cuisines to develop, borrowing from its incept in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and it’s maturation in the bayous and backwaters of Louisiana, with Native American (Chocktaw), African and Spanish influences enriching the Cajun cuisine.
All ingredients on the menu are sourced locally or as near as possible.
The Roux
A Cajun Roux (pronounced always as just “roo”) is the base of about half of all Cajun and Creole dishes, made with vegetable oil and flour. Once the roux is made, typically the “holy trinity” of vegetables is added, a “mirepoix” (“MEER-pwah”). In Cajun country, from Lafayette to Baton Rouge and down to Grande Isle, this mirepoix is made up of onion, green capsicum and celery (the French use carrot instead of the capsicum, but that didn’t grow well in the swamps!).
Where I lived in Louisiana, my Cajun neighbours had a joke about how long it takes to make a roux for certain dishes. Etouffée, a light more French style dish, is usually a one-beer roux while a fully-fledged gumbo like you’re having at Rosie’s, is a three-beer roux. That’s how long it takes to actually drink the beer as you’re making the roux. A bit of the beer goes in too later with the roux in various dishes, just for good luck.
The cook time for the roux depends on how dark and luscious you want your roux. I make my base roux to a tea colour, so the gumbo has a nutty and full flavour.
The Roux is key to the gumbo, and a bit is also used in the crawfish pie and the Creole Etouffée
Gumbo Filé
Gumbo filé is a spicy herb made from the dried and ground leaves of the sassafras tree. It’s cousin in the Laurel family, the Bay tree, is also a native to Louisiana. Both bay leaves and the ground sassafras leaves in the form of gumbo file are used widely in Cajun cooking.
The sassafras powder is essential in the better types of gumbo, both as a seasoning and a thickening agent. It adds a pleasingly distinctive, slightly citric but earthy flavour and texture. Filé in larger amounts can provide thickening when okra is not in season.
"Filé gumbo" is famously mentioned in the classic country song by Hank Williams Sr., Jambalaya (On The Bayou), as it is an enduring staple of Cajun cuisine. Listen to the "Jambalaya" Song now (lyrics below) -- In English·· In Cajun French
You’ll find the sassafras used in both the Seafood Gumbo and the Shrimp Creole on the menu.
Crawfish
The crawfish found by the Cajuns in their bayous is the red swamp crawfish, (Procambarus clarkii), which looks similar to the Australian Yabby (Cherax destructorI). However, unlike the yabby, the Cajun crawfish lives in the brackish waters of the Louisiana swamp, usually in the open grassy tracts which sweep from south of New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico.
Australians often use the word “crawfish” or “crayfish” to refer to the langoustine, or the spiny lobster, a salt-water crustacean not closely related to lobsters or true crawfish.
Please note your yabbies were all prepared for your dinner according to current RSPCA guidelines (slowly cooled until fully comatose prior to cooking).
You’ll find Australian Yabbies in both the Seafood Gumbo and of course, the Crawfish Pie
Persillade
Persillade (pair-see-YAWD) is a sauce or seasoning mixture of parsley chopped together with garlic, Cajun garden herbs, and oil. Cajun families typically would hang their garlic in great rings from the rafters in their bayou homes.
When added early in cooking, like in the crawfish pie and shrimp Creole, the Cajun persillade becomes mellow; but when it is added at the end of cooking or as a garnish as in the Cajun salad, it provides a garlicky jolt. It is extensively used in Cajun, Louisiana Creole, and Quebecois cuisines.
The Persillade is used in our Cajun Salad, Crawfish Pie, and Shrimp Creole.
Cajun Boiled Rice
Despite being called boiled rice, it is technically an absorption method where the rice is left undisturbed over a low heat, with salt, bay leaf, garlic and a pinch of sassafras. It was often imbued with a hint of swamp cedar smoke; we’ve used mesquite as a nod to the Texas end of the Cajun country.
The rice is a major part of the Red Beans and Rice, the Creole Etouffée and a key ingredient in the Jambalaya too!
Louisiana Iced Tea
Australians on their first tour to New Orleans will realise that in Cajun Country, the tea is served iced with lemon. Whether at a Crawfish Boil, picnic, or at the corner cafe, the tall glass of iced tea is a standard on every table and at every event.
Café au Lait
Long before espresso machines invaded the scene, the traditional Louisiana Cafe au Lait was being served in the French Quarter. The sublime combination of dark roasted coffee, chickory and scalded milk has been a winner for centuries in Cajun Country!
One of the most internationally famous songs about bayou country was written by Hank Williams in his 1952 chart-topping song, “Jambalaya”, based on an authentic Cajun melody.
Later done with Fats Domino (who’s house was just two doors up from the Popeye’s Fried Chicken joint David went to in the Ninth Ward in New Orleans), the song “Jambalaya” has also been done by Emmylou Harris, Jimmy Buffet and Harry Connick Junior.
We’ll include several of these versions on tonight’s music track, which includes Cajun and New Orleans favourites. If you like the song, order the Main of the same name!
Practice your karaoke skills now --- listen to the song In English In Cajun French
Jambalaya Song Lyrics:
Good-bye Joe, me gotta go, me oh my oh
Me gotta go pole the pirogue down the bayou
My Yvonne, the sweetest one, me oh my oh
Son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on the bayou
(Chorus)
Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and file' gumbo
'Cause tonight I’m gonna see my ma cher amio
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-o
Son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on the bayou
Thibodeaux, Fontainenot, the place is buzzin’
Kinfolk come to see Yvonne by the dozen
Dress in style and go hog wild, me oh my oh
Son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on the bayou
(Chorus)
Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and file' gumbo
'Cause tonight I’m gonna see my ma cher amio
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-o
Son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on the bayou
Settle down, far from town, get me a pirogue
And I’ll catch all the fish in the bayou
Swap my mon to buy Yvonne what she need-o
Son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on the bayou
(Chorus)
Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and file' gumbo
'Cause tonight I’m gonna see my ma cher amio
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-o
Son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on the bayou!
The Cajun French version:
"GOODBY JOE" J'AI POUR ALLEZ, MI-O-MA-Y-O
J'AI POUR ALLEZ MOI TOUT SEUL
SUR LE BAYOU
MA YVONNE, LA PLUS JOLIE
SUR LE BAYOU
TONNERRE M'ECRASE
UN VA AVOIR UN BON TEMP
SUR LE BAYOU
(Refrain)
JAMBALAYA, DES TARTES D'ECREUVISSE, FILE GOMBO
PAR A SOIR MOI J'VA ALLEZ VOIR
MA CHERE AMI-O
JOUER L'GUITAR, BOIRE DE LA JOGUE
(cruche)
ET FAIR DE LA MUSIQUE
TOMNNERRE M'ECRASE
UN VA AVOIR UN BON TEMP
DE SUR LE BAYOU
THIBODEAUX, FONTENOT, LA PLACE APRE SONNER
CA VIEN "EN TAS" POUR VOIR YVONNE
PAR LES DOUZAINES
FAIR BIEN L'AMOUR, ET FAIR LE FOU, FAIR LA MUSIQUE
TONNERRE M'ECRASE
UN VA AVOIR UN BON TEMP
Practice your karaoke skills now --- listen to the song· In English·· In Cajun French
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