A Lesson in Cultural Geography: How the Spanish influenced Cajun cuisine.

When one imagines the state of Louisiana, in a cultural perspective, many people take note of the Cajun and Creole influences. This is no exception when it comes to the food. However, some people do not think of other influences in Louisiana's cuisine.

One particular dish of note is jambalaya. Rice, andouille, peppers, shrimp, onions, celery, tomatoes, chicken, and other ingredients make up this dish. It has alot of notoriety as a Cajun dish. However, jambalaya actually originated from Spaniards who settled in Louisiana. The cultural geographical part about this will be explained.

As mentioned before, Louisiana gets alot of notoriety for its French heritage. You can see it in the city's symbol, the fleur-de-lis. However, not as much attention is given to Louisiana's Spanish heritage. In fact, the first Europeans to land in what is now the state of Louisiana were Spaniards. An expedition lead by Panfilo de Narvaez went all the way to the mouth of the Mississippi river.  France did rule Louisiana for hundreds of years. However, between 1763 and 1800, Spain ruled Louisiana. Under Spanish rule, Spanish-speaking immigrants from the Canary Islands, also know as Islenos, were brought to Louisiana. St. Bernard, Ascension, and Assumption parishes. Later on, some settled around Plaquemines Parish.

When Spain ruled Louisiana.

Around 1800, Louisiana would be turned back over to France, and in the hands of Napoleon. However, Napoleon sold the Louisiana territory to the USA, also known as the Louisiana Purchase.

What does any of the this have to do with the food? Well, the Spanish brought along some of their own food to Louisiana. Look at jambalaya. Jambalaya is actually a derivative of the Spanish rice dish paella. Paella required the ingredient of saffron, Saffron, a spice derived from the Crocus sativa flower, was not available in Louisiana. Tomatoes were used in place of saffron as a result.

Cajuns did play a part in rice being a staple food in Louisiana. French-speaking Acadians were expelled by the British from the Maritime Provinces of eastern Canada during the 18th century. As many of them made their way south, some stopped in the Carolinas. Many who continued south into Louisiana brought rice with them from the Carolinas. However, the Spanish were cooking with rice long before. Many Spanish people mingled with the French, and in a way, contributed to Louisiana's cuisine. Jambalaya can be thought of as a Cajun dish, but with Spanish roots. It shows how cultural diffusion has worked to create something similar, but unique.



http://ccet.louisiana.edu/tourism/parishes/Greater_New_Orleans/plaquemines.html
http://www.latech.edu/tech/liberal-arts/geography/courses/310/text/11chapter(spanish).htm
http://www.usarice.com/doclib/188/219/3677.PDF
http://www.louisianafolklife.org/LT/Articles_Essays/espana_la.html
http://www.tinycooker.com/jambalaya/

Breakfast City

Judging by the title of this entry, one might be inclined to believe that Battle Creek, Michigan is the subject of interest. And in many ways, one would be justified in feeling that way. However, this is not the subject of interest. The Twin Cities metropolitan area is the subject of interest.
If one has taken a course in economic geography, then this should be an easy topic. However, if not, well, here is a crash course in economic geography, at least on this topic.
In the American Midwest, there are three major agricultural belts.
1) Corn Belt
2) Wheat Belts
3) Dairy Belt.

The Corn Belt covers mainly covers and area from southern Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri in the west, to Ohio in east. This region has the soil types needed for growing corn, and an adequate rainfall.
The Wheat Belt stretches from northern Texas to North Dakota, and even touching parts of western Minnesota and eastern Montana. The Dairy Belt covers the area of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. These are areas where wheat or corn cannot be grown easily for commercial use, but grass is plentiful.

The common denominator for this is Minnesota. Minnesota is the state where the corn, wheat, and dairy belts all meet. It is no coincidence that Minneapolis gained a nickname of “Flour Milling Capital of the World”. This would become a major center for grain milling. There was corn from southern Minnesota, and wheat from nearby western areas. It would be no coincidence that General Mills is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. It is no coincidence that Land-O-Lakes butter is headquartered in suburb Minneapolis, in Arden Hills. With three major agricultural belts meeting in Minnesota, Minneapolis should have the title of “Breakfast City”.  Think of all of the breakfast foods eaten. Anything made by Pillsbury, a General Mills subsidiary. Think of Toaster Strudels. Think of Wheaties, Chex, and Cheerios. All of these products are made in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area.

Maybe next time when you sit down to have a bowl of Cheerios or Wheaties in the morning, and you look at the address and see “Minneapolis, MN” on the box, you might want to consider that General Mills has a reason for making that cereal in Minneapolis. Or the next time you put some Land-O-Lakes butter on your pancakes (which could be made by General Mills depending on what you use to make them), you might want to consider that Arden Hills, MN is a fitting place to have a butter company. Minnesota is located within the dairy belt after all. It gives a different meaning to breakfast.

http://schillerinstitute.org/strategic/2011/us_food_crisis.html

http://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Crops_County/pdf/CR-PL11-RGBChor.pdf

http://www.nass.usda.gov/research/atlas02/

http://www.millcitymuseum.org/flour-milling-history