Bananas Foster is a dramatic New Orleans dessert made with bananas cooked in butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, banana liqueur, and rum, then spooned over vanilla ice cream.

Beignets are square pillows of fried dough buried under powdered sugar. In New Orleans, they are best eaten hot with café au lait and zero concern for wearing black.

Boudin is a Cajun sausage made with pork, rice, onions, peppers, and seasonings stuffed into a casing. It is smoky, savory, soft, and perfectly acceptable to eat in a gas station parking lot.

Calas are Creole rice fritters fried until crisp outside and tender inside, then served sweet with powdered sugar or savory with dipping sauce.

Chicken Creole is chicken simmered in a tomato-rich sauce with onions, bell peppers, celery, garlic, and Louisiana seasoning.

Louisiana crawfish are small freshwater crustaceans usually boiled with spices, corn, potatoes, sausage, and plenty of attitude.

Étouffée is a Louisiana dish of seafood smothered in a rich, seasoned sauce and served over rice. Crawfish is the classic star, but shrimp and crab know their way around the pot too.

Gumbo is a Louisiana stew built from roux, stock, seasonings, and ingredients like seafood, chicken, sausage, okra, or filé. It is dark, soulful, complicated, and deeply personal.

A muffuletta is a massive New Orleans sandwich made on round sesame bread with Italian meats, cheese, and briny olive salad. It is Sicilian deli culture with a Louisiana accent.

A Po’ boy is a New Orleans sandwich served on crisp, airy French bread and stuffed with fried seafood, roast beef, hot sausage, or other fillings.

Potlikker is the savory broth left after cooking greens with pork, onions, and seasoning. It is smoky, salty, earthy, and so good people sop it up with cornbread.

Shrimp bisque is a rich Louisiana seafood soup made with shrimp, stock, vegetables, cream, and deep shellfish flavor.

Turtle soup is a dark, rich New Orleans soup made with turtle meat, vegetables, spices, tomato, stock, and often a splash of sherry.

Yaka Mein is a New Orleans noodle soup made with beefy broth, spaghetti or noodles, meat, green onions, hard-boiled egg, and hot sauce