Edited paper

When you go to New Orleans, you are not just visiting a city, you are immersing yourself in a whole new culture. Quite frankly, for a city called “The Big Easy”, New Orleans culture is quite difficult to understand, especially for those who are not natives. Ruta Sepetsy, a New Orleans author, puts it perfectly by saying “New Orleans is a sensory experience…and there’s a story lurking around every corner. Its cultural diversity is woven into the food, the music…even the local superstitions.” New Orleans is one of the most popular cities in the United States, so it is quite the hotspot for movies and TV, as if New Orleans needs any more stories. Food is a very important aspect of New Orleans culture, so it often given a spotlight on the big screen. There is a fascinating history behind New Orleans food, a history that is almost identical to that of New Orleans Voodoo, and while Voodoo is given a spotlight on the big screen as well, this light is not as bright. There is a striking disparity between the way pop culture portrays food, and the way it portrays Voodoo, even though both contain cultural influences from the same people. In each case, those who participate in the act are given the same attention, whether that attention be beneficial or detrimental.

One of the most famous commodities that New Orleans offers is its food. In New Orleans, you’ll find Creole and Cajun food, often in the same restaurants, but that does not mean that they are the same types of food. Both Creole and Cajun have a long history that is important to understanding the culture of New Orleans as a whole.

According to a nineteenth century historian, who published a famous book on Creole families in 1803, A Creole person is defined as “ one born of European parents, in the American colonies of France or Spain… Especially those of French or Spanish descent who are natives of Louisiana and their descendants”(Beckwith, Creoles of St. Louis). Louisiana was claimed by the French explorer Robert De La Salle in 1682, with the help of Canadians and Native Americans. La Nouvelle- Orleans was founded in 1718, and it became the dream city of La Salle. In 1719, the first African slaves were brought to Louisiana. These slaves often ran the kitchens of French colonists, introducing African foods and techniques into the colonists’ diets by the use of okra and one of the first versions of Gumbo. While gumbo is a very famous Creole dish, this, still, did not spark the beginning of Creole food.

The Beckwith definition of a Creole person can be used for Creole Food as well. In figurative terms, Creole food is the child of American ingredients, and French settler techniques. In 1722, Creole food began at the hands of a group of young French women. These women were upset that the colony was experiencing a shortage of familiar French cooking ingredients. They formed a culinary coup of sorts, and marched to the governor’s house clanging on pots and pans. While the governor couldn’t do much about the shortage of ingredients, he decided that the women could use some guidance for cooking in the colony. The governor’s cook, Madame Langlois, was instructed to teach the women how to cook with local American ingredients. One of the dishes that she taught them was a variation of the African Gumbo that the slaves often made. This recipe would become the Louisiana Creole Gumbo that many people know and love. Though Madame Langlois at the time was just a house cook, she would later be recognized as “the first great cook in Louisiana”(Elie, Oxford American). I believe this is a gross understatement. Langlois was a revolutionary. At a time when colonists believed they were better than their cooks or non-white counterparts , the fate of their dinners and ultimately the fate of Creole cuisine, rested in the hands of Madame Langlois. While she was a great cook, she was so much more than just that. Though, you can be sure that she would not be the last great revolutionary cook in New Orleans.

While Madame Langlois began Creole Cuisine, it did not end with her. Much like a young child, Creole food grew and adapted to its influences, becoming more diverse than its ‘parents’. In 1764, Spain took Louisiana from the French. Colonists traded with France, Spain, and many Caribbean countries, spices and various ingredients being a vital part of the imports. Haitians fled to New Orleans after a revolution in Saint Domingue, introducing more flavors to New Orleans Creole food.

Creole cuisine started with the 27 women and Madame Langlois, so it is not unusual to see that many of the most famous chefs in New Orleans are women. Despite facing economic, social, and gender-related issues in their day, women chefs in New Orleans have risen to the top. While this is a male-dominated career, women chefs have flourished, even while balancing home-life and long hours in the kitchen. Some examples of these famous women are Lena Richard, who was the first black woman to demonstrate cooking on television during the times of segregation; Leah Chase, who still shows up to work in her kitchen at 92 years old; and Susan Spicer, an award winning chef who flawlessly balances a new marriage, children, and her restaurant. According to chef Sue Zemanick, “[ New Orleans] is more supportive, women hold each other up.”  

Popular culture has also embraced powerful female chefs, most recognizably with The Princess and The Frog, a 2009 animated Disney movie. The main character, Tiana, has always had the dream of owning her own restaurant, with the idea that it would become the most famous restaurant in New Orleans. As the first black princess, and the only Disney princess with actual life goals, Tiana and her movie have the potential to be very influential for the new generation of young black women. I have seen this “revolution” myself in my cousins, who are all of mixed race. I have seen how this movie empowered them to embrace their gender and their race, in a world that thinks that ignoring both is the way to equality.

New Orleans is also considered the home of Voodoo. Their Voodoo is not to be confused with Haitian Voudou, or hoodoo. Voodoo in New Orleans, has been influenced and morphed by some of the same people who influenced New Orleans food. The main influences of modern Voodoo were the African slaves brought to New Orleans. These are most likely the same slaves that introduced African spices and cooking techniques to Creole food. Those who practice Voodoo believe in one supreme God, and Spirits who overlook aspects of daily life such as family, justice and health. In this respect, Voodoo is not very different from Catholicism, which allowed many slaves to continue their worship and spirituality during times where they were threatened with death for their rituals. New Orleans is one of the places where Voodoo did not change much, apart from the immigration of the Haitians that incorporated some of their rituals into the Voodoo of New Orleans. About 15% of people in New Orleans still practice Voodoo, with the goal of searching for higher levels of consciousness in order to grow into a better version of themselves.

Voodoo is another profession that has seen women flourish in positions of power, much like being a chef. Deep Voodoo Work requires certain qualities that only a woman can possess, so the Voodoo leaders are called Mothers. There is no initiation into Mother-hood, Mothers are chosen. These women have descended from other Mothers, and are called into the work of Voodoo often during a spiritual dream where a Mother in their lineage visits them. They are, quite literally, born into the craft. Mothers run a church in a way similar to how a chef runs a kitchen. Mothers have completely embraced Voodoo, and they say that it lives inside of them, giving them a strength that is unbounded.

One of the most recognizable women in Voodoo is Marie Laveau. Marie, a part black and part Choctaw woman,  lived from 1794 to 1881, she worked as a hairdresser, and a nurse, but devoted most of her life to raising her 15 children. During this time at home, she quickly became the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, after becoming increasingly interested in the African religion of her mother and ancestors. With the help of John Bayou, a voodoo doctor, Marie was dubbed the Voodoo Queen by 1830, doing all of this while raising 15 children. She quickly overthrew the other voodoo queens of New Orleans, due to the fact that she had a strong clientele from working as a hairdresser. Though she was feared throughout the city, she spent a lot of her time doing humanitarian work such as healing the sick, visiting those in prisons, and even helping women get pregnant. There is, however, some controversy surrounding Marie, with many articles claiming that her supernatural powers came from the sheer number of informants she had around the city, others say that she saw money to be made in the trade of Voodoo, so she falsified everything, exploiting real Mothers and real Voodoo. It is hard to say what is true about Marie Laveau and what is false, as her life has been adapted for popular culture since she was alive.