Want to spot the difference between Cajun food and Creole food? Raphael Jones says to check for tomatoes. “Creole dishes like Shrimp Creole will have tomato,” he said. “There are items that have the same name like Gumbo, but there’s a Creole version of gumbo and a Cajun version of gumbo. We don’t add tomatoes to our Cajun Étouffée, but our Creole Jambalaya has a tomato base.”
Of course, there are some other differences between the cuisines, Raphael continued. “Cajun dishes tend to be heavy on crawfish and pork, while Creole is a lot more broad when it comes to ingredients, especially seafood. Cajun is the country folk — Creole is the city folk!”
Raphael should know: He and his wife and business partner, Jessica, offer both tastes of New Orleans at Garden Center, a new Cajun-Creole restaurant on Monroe Center…