Northwestern State University celebrated International Creole Heritage Month in savory style with a “Creole Cuisine Demonstration” by chef Sheri L. Raleigh at NSU’s Columns Café Wednesday, October 2. Ms. Raleigh is a chef, culinary instructor and author of three cookbooks. Her demonstration showed the West African influences in Southern and Creole cooking. She cooked Jambalaya and compared it to Jollof Rice, a Nigerian rice and tomato dish. Even classic Louisiana dishes such as Bananas Foster have West African influences from a dessert made from caramelized plantains with coconut sugar. Hibiscus tea lemonade, a Nigerian drink called zobo drink, was also served.
Ms. Raleigh is originally from Lake Charles and is a 1982 NSU alumna. She spent 35 years in the education field in Texas before retiring and starting a second culinary career. The “Cooking with Culture: A Creole Cooking Demonstration” event was sponsored by NSU’s HMT Department, NSU’s Creole Heritage Center and NSU’s Gail Metoyer Jones Center for Inclusion and Diversity.
