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A New Orleans Chef Finds a Place for Fusion in the Black Diaspora’s Cuisine

In a quaint, restored house in the New Orleans Uptown neighborhood, the scent of spices like clove, paprika, cayenne, and garlic wafts through the windows. Those walking by can, at once, catch a scent of briny, freshly caught blue crab and the piquant …

In a quaint, restored house in the New Orleans Uptown neighborhood, the scent of spices like clove, paprika, cayenne, and garlic wafts through the windows. Those walking by can, at once, catch a scent of briny, freshly caught blue crab and the piquant smell of scotch bonnet. The confluence of flavors isn’t accidental. It’s the creation of Serigne Mbaye, a young, Senegalese chef bringing his culinary vision to life.

For Mbaye, fusing flavors to create a West African-Creole fusion cuisine is a craft and an opportunity for Black chefs like him to explore the creative lanes they’ve long been kept from venturing. The child of Senegalese immigrants—including Khady Kante, a highly revered Senegalese chef in her own right (she operated Touba Taif, one of NYC’s only Senegalese restaurants, from 1989 to 1991, and ran a restaurant in her home country of Senegal)—Mbaye remembers preparing one pot dishes with his mom. Dishes like domoda—which Mbaye described as a gumbo—or maybe jollof with chicken, fish, or shrimp, and sometimes, a beef stew with peanut butter. The one-pot characteristic of the food in Mbaye’s upbringing would parallel with what he found in an area influenced by enslaved Africans who came from his homeland. Here, Mbaye said, was an opportunity to tell a new story.

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Spicy Shrimp & Sausage Creole for Mardi Gras (& All Year Long)

We’ve teamed up with Zatarain’s® Smoked Sausage to help you bring the flavors of a New Orleans Mardi Gras straight to your kitchen with recipe ideas starring their Andouille and Cajun-Style flavors. Up first: the spicy Shrimp and Sausage Creole that Ro…

We’ve teamed up with Zatarain’s® Smoked Sausage to help you bring the flavors of a New Orleans Mardi Gras straight to your kitchen with recipe ideas starring their Andouille and Cajun-Style flavors. Up first: the spicy Shrimp and Sausage Creole that Rosalynn Daniels—a lifestyle blogger, recipe developer, and photographer—makes every year to celebrate the Carnival season.


When you think of New Orleans, Mardi Gras is often one of the first things that comes to mind: Over many years and generations, the celebration has become an essential part of the city’s cultural fabric. For Rosalynn Daniels, a food and lifestyle blogger who spent her high school years living in New Orleans, Mardi Gras is always a special time of year.

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Crispy One-Pan Salmon With Spicy Creole Cream Sauce? Heck Yes.

We’ve partnered with Hood®, makers of great-tasting, high-quality cream made from real Hood Milk, to share the weeknight dinner we’ll be making all fall long and beyond: one-pot crispy salmon with a velvety Creole cream sauce (thanks, Hood Heavy Cream!…

We've partnered with Hood®, makers of great-tasting, high-quality cream made from real Hood Milk, to share the weeknight dinner we’ll be making all fall long and beyond: one-pot crispy salmon with a velvety Creole cream sauce (thanks, Hood Heavy Cream!) that makes the dish sing.


“Bam!" I’ll never forget the iconic expression Emeril Lagasse made every time he added garlic, cayenne pepper, or a splash of rum to dishes on his classic Food Network cooking show, Emeril Live.

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