Icebox cake is a sweet dessert consisting of heavy cream, sugar, and chocolate cookies or wafers. The heavy cream is typically whipped into stiff peaks and combined with cookies to form alternating layers of whipped cream and cookies. The concoction is then left in the icebox (refrigerator) to chill overnight.
The cream is often flavored with vanilla. This cake was introduced to the United States of America during WWI, but its popularity peaked in the 1920s and the 1930s. Today, there are many variations on the cake, both in America and Australia, with added pineapples, bananas, or chocolate pudding.
MOST ICONIC Icebox Cake
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Étouffée refers to a group of dishes with Cajun origins which are typically served as a main course (unlike gumbo, which is considered a soup) and are made with one type of shellfish such as shrimp or crawfish that are smothered in a thick sauce.
The sauce is made with either a blond or brown roux, and the dish is almost always served over rice. The name étouffée is derived from the French word étouffer, meaning smothered, referring to the method of cooking.
MOST ICONIC Étouffée
MAIN INGREDIENTS
The cheapest way to serve a crowd of people, jambalaya is one of Louisiana's favorite dishes originating from the Cajuns from the southern parts of the country, where food was often scarce. At the time, there were many slaves in the country, so the word jambalaya supposedly derives from the French jambon, or ham, and the African aya, meaning rice.
Another theory suggests that it stems from the Provencal jambalaia, meaning a mishmash. Similar to paella, pilaf, or risotto, its key ingredients are rice, shrimp or crab meat, finely cut, spicy, smoked sausage and smoked ham, diced green peppers, garlic, celery, onions, tomatoes, and the obligatory spices - thyme and bay leaves.