Glossary A-B

Acadia
The land of Nova Scotia (New Scotland); taken from the Indian word “aquoddie” for the pollock, a fish.

Andouille (ahn-doo’ee)
Highly spiced, thick skinned smoked pork sausage readily available in South Louisiana. It is both French and German in character and origination. Generic smoked pork or beef sausage may be substituted if real andouille is not available.

Atchafalaya (A-chaf-a-lie’-a)
Derived from the Choctaw hacha falaia, meaning “long river. The Atchafalaya Basin is the largest swamp wilderness in the US. It’s 600,000 acres are located in Cajun Country.

Au Lait (oh-lay’)
With milk.

Bateau (bah-toh’)
A wide, flat-bottomed boat designed to avoid flipping as the boat is often maneuvered by standing and push-poling through the shallows of the Louisiana swamp and marshes.

Bayou
Choctaw word (bayuk) meaning stream or small river.

Beignet (ben-yay’)
A square fried donut with no hole, dusted with powdered sugar.

Bisque
A thick cream soup containing seafood, game or pureed vegetables.

Boucherie (boo-sher-ee’)
The butchering of a pig; often the setting for a gathering of friends and family following the pig roast on a large spit.

Boudin (boo-dahn’)
Hot, spicy pork mixed with onions, cooked rice, herbs, and stuffed in sausage casing.

Bouquet Garni (boo-kay’ gar-nee’)
An herb bouquet. A small cheesecloth bag containing 1 large bay leaf, teaspoon thyme, teaspoon dried basil, about 8 sprigs fresh parsley, teaspoon dried tarragon, 3 chopped green celery tops, 6 whole peppercorns and a slashed clove of garlic used in Cajun cooking**

Bouree’ (boo-ray’)
Popular Cajun card game, sometimes called “Cajun Bridge”.