Louisiana cuisine is very unique. We have a variety of foods, but some are only available in Louisiana. Or, at least, the best we do! Check these out:

1. Pralines (praw-leans)

Gooey caramel cookies studded with caramel pralines , available at most corner markets in New Orleans and getting better and better with age. The dentist may cringe, but your taste buds certainly won’t!

2. Pancakes (ben-yays)

Sweet toothies unite! This delicious deep-fried treat The French donut, which can be found at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans or Coffee Call in Baton Rouge, is dusted with enough powdered sugar to satisfy any dessert craving. Enjoy that sweet pleasure! Just don’t inhale when you take a bite of bread or wear black!

3. Stone sausage (boo-dan)

Vegetarians beware! The chorizo ??is stuffed with pork and rice, and many locals drive around sucking the stuffing from their intestines with one hand. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em! There are also pudding balls, which are breaded and deep-fried pudding. If you’re ever in Baton Rouge, be sure to stop by Tony’s Seafood on Plank Road and pick up some of their French pudding balls!!

4. Coush-couch

< p>This French breakfast includes fried cornbread and delicious mix-ins like raisins, honey, eggs, and milk. Couche Couche definitely deserves to rise and shine! There's even a Cajun-esque cheer: Hot beauties, cold couches, come on, let's push, push, push!

5. King Cake

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This sweet Danish pastry is a Mardi Gras tradition and is often decorated with purple, green and gold sugar. Just make sure you don't accidentally break your teeth when you bite into this dessert, because there's a little plastic doll inside! Whoever chooses this cake will have to buy a king cake, so choose wisely. All bakeries and most supermarkets with bakeries make king cakes right up until Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras), so you won't have a hard time finding a king cake. By the way, the glazed fruit cream cheese filling is the best. I scrape off the colored sugar myself before eating a king cake like this.

6. Crayfish

These tiny crustaceans are the stars of crawfish season. In Louisiana, in the spring you can go have crawfish boils, boiled crawfish, corn on the cob, whole cloves of garlic and all kinds of vegetables. Roll up your sleeves and get on with it! In Baton Rouge, you can check out Tony’s Seafood on Plank Rd (for takeout) or Montabrano’s on Florida Blvd (for takeout or at Eat in store) find some of the best boiled crawfish.

8. Gumbo (gum-bow)

Gumbo is a Louisiana stew made of seafood or chicken, sausage and holy trinity (celery, sweet potatoes) peppers and onions). Gumbo is not a single stew (or a single soup as some would say) with a unique flavor. Gumbo is more like a lot of stews and can sometimes be noticeably different, so it's hard to always find clues to the differences.

There is gumbo for every meat you can think of, and some you might not think of, unless you have giant rat gumbo. There is chicken, shrimp and okra, turkey, crab, duck, beef, pork, various sausages, frogs, and nutria (rodent). These may or may not be combined as desired. But gumbo always starts with a roux (oil and flour), then adds the "three-in-one" (onions, celery, bell peppers), and finally the stock and meat/seafood. There's an example of Chicken Sausage Gumbo made by Cajun Ninja on YouTube if you're interested.

7. Jambalaya (jum-ba-lie-ya)

This dish of rice mixed with sausage, chicken or shrimp has been a staple of the South for centuries. Good food for the family.

8. Crawfish (eh-to-fay)

This is a delicious Cajun dish made with vegetables and crawfish or shrimp, served over rice.

Usually served with salad and crusty bread.

9. Muf-uh-lot-a

This unique sandwich was born in New Orleans' Crescent City and made at Central Grocery. It's a delicious blend of Italian meats and cheeses stuffed into a seeded bun. Its spicy signature tapenade will have you salivating for a daiquiri. Yum!

10. Red Beans and Rice

According to Creole custom, people soak the beans on Sunday night or Monday morning so that they have a pot of red beans for dinner that night and rice. Add some spices and maybe some pork sausage and you have a delicious dinner to savor. Rice is always cooked separately and cornbread is a must with your red beans and rice!

11. Po'Boy

The "Poor Boy" submarine sandwich was invented in Louisiana , has become a mouth-watering classic that every tourist must try. Good luck with your French crusty bread stuffed with fried meat, fish and spicy mayonnaise.