"... before about 1980 or thereabouts there was no such thing as Cajun food.

Chef Paul Prudhomme, of K-Paul's Restaurant in New Orleans and a native of Opelousas, Louisiana, can be given a lot of the credit for popularizing Cajun-style cooking in America. The dish that became his signature was Blackened Redfish.

Cajuns do like their food well-seasoned, and this seasoning almost always includes black pepper and cayenne pepper, but the idea that Cajun food is like regular food with a pound of pepper on it is a misconception. Good, well-seasoned food in southwest Louisiana will definitely have a zing; the cayenne tends to sneak up on you, catching you in the back of your throat, and you notice you start to perspire after about six or eight bites. But if Cajun food burns your mouth, it means you've got too much pepper in it."

From ...Cajun Food Craze