Most of the time you’ll see the terms ‘blackened’ in regard to fish or poultry, and sometimes meats. It is credited with being an old Cajun cooking technique, but the fact is it was created in the early 1980’s by New Orleans Master Chef Paul Prudhomme at his restaurant, K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen. This was located in the French Quarter, and was co-owned by Chef Paul and his late wife Kay.
Blackening was immediately recognized as something special, and attained huge and nearly instant popularity. The dish which was served at K-Paul’s was Blackened Redfish. It was so popular it was cited as the reason Gulf populations of this sports fish were quickly declining, although the numbers of redfish in the Gulf had been dropping since the 1970’s.
Blackening is meant to be a quick cooking method. In this technique, a peppery crust is developed through the liberal use of butter and high heat, in combination with a spicy rub on a relatively thin, uniform piece of meat or fish. It can be done either with a grill, or a well seasoned cast iron pan. Note that I said the liberal use of butter – despite popular opinion, this is not a means by which to achieve a svelte figure (take a look at the inventor).
Although blackening something is not how to start a diet, it is extremely easy, and the results are out of this world. One bite and it’s easy to see how Chef Prudhomme achieved his fame. Or infamy – depending on how much you like spicy food.
For the complete recipe breakdown, and more information on the technique, click the link at the top of this article!
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