A Festive Fusion: Ohio & Cajun

Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday is upon us followed by the forty solemn days and nights of Lent. I feel more pressure to indulge on this day than I do in the minutes counting down to New Year’s Eve and the start of a new resolution. I can already taste the decadence!

I’ve planned a Cajun feast for some friends with a challenging twist: make it with as many locally grown and raised ingredients as possible. Although easy and noble to think, I suspected it might be harder to accomplish.

The number one challenge is that it’s February in Ohio and some of my fresh produce choices would be problematic, although I am feeling pretty good the quarts of tomatoes I put up in September and the onions and garlic in storage.

The next challenge is that this is not Louisiana and finding the classic components of Cajun cooking might be a stretch. To me, the defining tastes of Cajun cuisine are andouille (say it “ahn-doo-I”) a spicy smoked sausage, and tasso (say it "tah-so"), a highly seasoned smoked or salt cured ham used in small measures to flavor a variety of Cajun dishes. I consider both meats exclusively Cajun and poorly considered substitutions would turn this Cajun dinner into something ordinary.

So my quest for these Cajun style meats started and ended with one phone call to Kris Krieger’s butcher and sausage shop, Chef's Choice Meats in Berea. “Do you have tasso and andouille and are they made with Ohio raised meats?” I asked. Kris’ answer: Yes, on both counts.

If you’re a passionate cook on the prowl for obscure ingredients in the unlikeliest of places, you will understand the thrill of the one-phone-call victory.