Although the term étouffée is from French (étouffer = to smother), the étouffée of Cajun Louisiana always begins with the Spanish-kitchen holy trinity of celery, green peppers, and onions and a dark roux made from vegetable oil cooked low and slow with flour. Garlic, peppers, and a constellation of other spices are added, creating a heavy stock that combines with crawfish or possibly crab or shrimp (and even, on occasion, chicken) and is served over rice. (Heretical though it may be, one vendor at a recent New Orleans Roadfood Festival served alligator étouffée over creamy grits.) Although it doesn’t have such thickening agents as the filé powder or okra used in gumbo, étouffée is thicker and heartier—more like stew than soup, served as a main course rather than an appetizer.
A pot full of crawfish étouffée at Robin’s in Henderson, Louisiana.