étouffée

[ey-too-fey]

noun

plural

étouffées 

1. New Orleans Cooking.,  a stew of crayfish, vegetables, and seasonings, served over white rice.

Word History and Origins

Origin of étouffée¹

< Louisiana French; French (à l')étouffée cooked in a closed vessel with little liquid, braised; noun use of feminine past participle of étouffer literally, to smother, suffocate, Old French estofer, apparently identical with estofer to stuff

Example Sentences

During the festival, food available on site includes crawfish bread, pecan catfish meuniere and catfish almondine, cochon de lait and turducken po-boys, boudin, crawfish étouffée, jambalaya, crawfish Monica and shrimp and grits.

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The Clesies said their menu will include the dirty rice as well as boiled crawfish, crawfish etouffee and something called a “messi clesi,” which is a combination of the dirty rice and etouffee.

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At the annual Louisiana Crawfish Festival in St. Bernard Parish, fans chowing down on crawfish pasta, bread, pies and etouffee said the crustaceans have been limited so far this season.

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“The étouffée wasn’t ready when we were first there, and she had to get back to try it.”

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There's shrimp étouffée, a Louisiana stew made with shrimp, onion, celery, green pepper, and a simple roux; chicken-andouille gumbo, another Louisiana-staple made with spicy pork sausage, Cajun seasoning and roasted potatoes; and muffuletta, a hearty sandwich that beautifully combines Sicilian and Creole flavors.

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