After moving to Phoenix, AZ from New Orleans, LA in early 2001, via a four year stint in the San Francisco Bay area (Mr. Kat, a.k.a. Paul is a bay area boy! Go figure!), Kat just couldn’t find the Cajun/Creole cuisine that she was used to in New Orleans. We went to all the Cajun/Creole restaurants in the area (as we had in the bay area for the four years previously), and many had very good food, but we were always disappointed with the authenticity of certain traditional Louisiana dishes.
We wanted to develop and provide bona fide Cajun/Creole cuisine like no other. It became an obsession, so Kat dusted off Grandma Olivia’s extraordinary recipe collection and started cooking. Kat has perfected recipes handed down through four generations of her Louisiana lineage so that others can enjoy the finest quality and exceptional flavors from all areas of Louisiana, from New Orleans to northernmost Louisiana to the Acadian bayous. Each region is famous for specialty foods that their ancestors developed.
Everyone who tried Kat’s dishes encouraged her to become a caterer. However, we wanted these exquisite culinary offerings to be available to everyone in the Southwest and Western regions, so the arduous task began!
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In 2008, we began working with University Food Science programs to turn home recipes into commercial recipes. At one point, we were almost convinced that we would not be able to stick to our strict criteria – i.e. roux must be made in cast iron and must be the right color for the dish, only fresh ingredients would go into our products, and that the holy trinity (onions, celery and bell peppers) should be caramelized rather than softened, etc. Kat would not be denied! It was too important for her recipes to be made just right!
We began importing genuine Louisiana products, such as gulf shrimp, Louisiana Crawfish, Andouille Sausage, Camellia Red Beans, Crystal Worcestershire, etc. to our Arizona commercial kitchen, and soon realized that this was not feasible from a cost stand point. At the same time, we also realized that we needed Louisianans to use Louisiana styles of cooking to make the products authentic, so we returned to Louisiana and sought out experts to have our products made by locals who know how to cook Cajun/Creole dishes.
Kat’s Jazz Gourmet Foods has state-of-the-art technology, our facilities are USDA/FDA approved and we use HACCP guidelines to meet the highest quality standards in food preparation. We are very proud to be Certified Cajun, meaning that all ingredients in our products are home grown in Louisiana and the products themselves are produced in Louisiana.
We are happy to introduce you to our line of quality Ready-to-Serve Products! Laissez le bon temps rouler! (Let the good times roll!) There’s a lot more to come, so stay tuned! |
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