Cajun cooking is world renowned for giving to lovers of good food and gourmet some of the finest and most memorable taste experiences of a lifetime. The way Cajun and Creole chefs use spices and recipe components that are unique to the southern Louisiana area has spawned a style of cooking that rivals the finest chefs in any other part of the world can master. If you plan a trip to New Orleans or anywhere in Cajun country, to leave without sitting down to a complete Cajun meal would be nothing short of a crime.



The tastes that literally erupt from a Cajun meal will command your attention so strongly that while enjoying this fine dining, you literally will think of nothing else. Of course, Cajun meals are sometimes not for the squeamish. The skillful use of spices and the unusual main dishes such as crawdads or alligator tail can make someone new to the Cajun culture a little nervous. It is worth it to overcome your fears and dive into that delicious food in front of you because it will be a taste treat you will never forget. And it will be one you will want to come back to often if not reproduce on your own home.

Yes, it is possible to conquer the skills of Cajun cooking at home and even learn to prepare fine Cajun fish delicacies for your own guests. The image of an old Cajun chef slaving for hours or days over a recipe comes from the assumption that something so delicious had to take a tremendous investment of time and skill to produce. It might come as a surprise then that not only is it possible to prepare a Cajun fish meal in the microwave but that the microwave is actually a preferred way to prepare these recipes.

The reason using your microwave oven to prepare a fine Cajun meal works so well is one of the best ways to coax the best flavors from the spices and the fish is through fast steaming. And there is no better way to quickly steam a main dish than in the microwave. Whether the fish is cod, redfish, red snapper, monkfish or tuna, quick steaming is the best way to preserve flavor but to get the fish cooked thoroughly. The process is straightforward. You simply put the fresh fish into a microwave steamer. Add a small amount of water. Some recipes will have you add spices to the water.

By microwaving that enclosed microwave cookware for 2-3 minutes, you quickly steam the fish, which releases waves of flavor. Now you can open the dish and add garlic, butter, chili or other Cajun spices to give that main dish that exciting taste and aroma that will take you back to the bayou as soon as you taste the first bite of your Cajun cooking. After you do your final preparations, one more minute in the microwave completes the cooking and fills each morsel of food with flavor.

Finally just serve the meal with all the trimmings. When you take the lid off of that microwave steamer and the aroma of that fish fills the room, the exclamations of surprise and delight will be gratifying to you. But be prepared as those exclamations continue throughout the meal. If your guests give you the title of "great Cajun chef", be humble. But you can accept the title on behalf of your spice rack, your fish market, your good Cajun recipe book and, of course, your old reliable microwave oven that made it all possible.