Cajun Foodways

8. Cajun Food and Ethnic Identity

8. Cajun Food and EthnicIdentity Crawfish boils, boucheries and other special food events blend work and play, thus highlighting both Cajun competence and joie de vivre. In addition, at these events ethnic differences between Cajuns and outsiders are clearly evident and ethnic boundaries take on a special relevance. E A T I N G A B I L I T Y A N D E T H N I C B O U N D A R I E S Part of the power of the crawfish as an ethnic marker is derived from the fact that outsiders typically have difficulty in peeling and eating crawfish (see chapter 6). Outsiders, like very young Cajun children, cannot put food into their mouths because they lack the necessary mechanical skills. Two other Cajun foods require special mechanical skills on the part of diners. One is the boiled crab: separating the edible and inedible portions of boiled crabs is even more difficult and complex than peelingcrawfish. Edible crabmeat is dispersed in shell-encased pockets throughout the crab's body and claws; it is not confined to a clearly demarcated tail area, as in the crawfish. Inedible internal portions of the crab are also dispersed throughout the body, rather than being confined largely to a relatively easily recognized and discarded "head." The diner must recognize and discard the crab's "face," "sandbags," "gills" (allegedly poisonous parts 121 122 Cajun Foodways that resemble edible meat and are also called "dead man's fingers"), and various other internal organs with names known only to biologists. Because crab shells are very hard, the diner must possess a certain degree of physical strength (as well as a knife) to open and "pick" a crab. The role of an outsider as novice at a crab boil is similar to his or her role at a crawfish boil. Boudin, too, can cause problems for novice eaters. Unlike most sausage casings, the skin of boudin is considered inedible, and it cannot easily be severed with the teeth. To avoid gagging on the leftover sausage casing of a partially eaten piece of boudin, a diner must push the sausage filling through the leftover casing, to the opening on its end. Some beginners fail to do this as they eat, and it is awkward and messy to do once the sausage has been half eaten. Newcomers receive explicit instructions on how to eat boudin. "Don't eat the skin," they are told. "It's like a tube of toothpaste. If you don't push from the bottom, you'll end up wasting it." Unlike crawfish, crabs, and boudin, most Cajun foods do not require special mechanical skills on the part of the diner. Most cooked foods are served on plates or in bowls, and they are eaten with forks, spoons, and knives, as is typical of many foods eaten throughout the United States. Nonetheless, some outsiders have difficulty in eating various Cajun foods for reasons that are not related to mechanical skills. One such reason is physical, though culturallyconditioned: some outsiders cannot tolerate the pepper content of many Cajun dishes, or the intense flavor of dark roast coffee. Another reason is cultural: certain Cajun foods violate the rules of edibility, or food taboos, held by some outsiders, especially middle-class, Anglo-American newcomers (see below). Being concerned about these factors does not mark an outsider as inept, but it does mark him or her as different from Cajuns. Cajuns acknowledge that their food is very "hot," and they claim that a person must grow up eating this food in order to tolerate it physically. Outsiders virtually always characterize Cajun food as "hot," "spicy," or "full of pepper." Some outsiders see this as a positive trait, especially if they are accustomed to spicy foods because of their own upbringing, or if they have learned to enjoy peppery foods as adults. Other outsiders dislike Cajun food because of the pepper. They saythat eating it is uncomfortable or painful, or that the rich seasonings make them ill, or that the cayenne pepper and other seasonings "ruin" the delicate flavor of some foods, Cajun Food and Ethnic Identity 123 particularly seafoods. An outsider's inability to eat highly seasoned foods marks him as different and provokes mild laughter or concern among locals. For example, Cajun onlookers found it humorous that the members of a visiting national theater group had difficulty tolerating the pepper content of...