re: Why are tomatoes absent in Cajun cuisine?

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Tomatoes are definitely not absent in Cajun cooking, either in a contemporary view or an historical one. Redfish courtbouillion features tomatoes, as does the bayou cajun shrimp spaghetti common in southern Lafourche & Terrebonne (a fine dish that deserves to be cooked more widely, esp with a little crab fat stirred into the sauce). Shrimp creole is popular, and a smidge of tomato paste is pretty common in crawfish etouffee. All the bayou cajun cooks I know cook smothered okra & tomatoes (usually w/shrimp), as well as using tomatoes in shrimp/sausage/corn soup. Those are just a few off the top of my head, I’m sure we could come up with a more exhaustive list.

Just because it’s not in gumbo or jambalaya doesn’t mean it isn’t used in cajun cooking.

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