Holy Trinity (cooking) - Wikipedia

Flavor base used extensively in Cajun cooking

The "holy trinity" in Cajun and Louisiana Creole cuisine is the base for several dishes in the regional cuisines of Louisiana and consists of onions, bell peppers and celery. The preparation of Cajun/Creole dishes such as crawfish étouffée, gumbo, and jambalaya all start from this base.

Variants use garlic, parsley, or shallots in addition to the three trinity ingredients.[1] The addition of garlic is sometimes referred to as adding "the pope".

The holy trinity is the Cajun and Louisiana Creole variant of mirepoix; traditional mirepoix is two parts onions, one part carrots, and one part celery, whereas the holy trinity is typically one or two parts onions, one part green bell pepper, and one part celery.[2] It is also an evolution of the Spanish sofrito, which contains onion, garlic, bell peppers, and tomatoes.[3]

History

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After the Acadians were exiled from Nova Scotia, Canada in 1755, they settled in Louisiana. When attempting to import the French culinary tradition of using mirepoix, the carrots in the traditional mixture was changed to bell peppers, for reasons including availability and cost.[4] Bell peppers grew much easier in Louisiana. It is thought that German and Italian immigrants brought celery to the area in the late 1700s. The Italians grew a lot of celery in their gardens. Both celery and the bell peppers were wilder versions of those we use today.[5]

People in South Louisiana had been using the term in the kitchen for hundreds of years. Chef John Folse said that "around 1775, around the time of [US] independence and before the Battle of New Orleans, the flavors that we understand today as Louisiana cooking were established." The holy trinity was popularized in the late 1970s, and was de rigueur by the early 1980s. Everyone grew onions, bell pepper and celery in their own gardens and, in general, the ingredients were very cheap and available.[5]

Although the trinity is now famously known in both Cajun and Creole cooking, it originated in Cajun cuisine. The Creole people in New Orleans had access to the many foods that came in to the city's port. However, Cajun cooks relied on what they grew or what was available at nearby farms. Renowned Creole Chef Leah Chase of Dooky Chase's Restaurant also confirmed that "it wasn't the Creoles, [but] the Cajuns...Creoles of color did not use very much celery. That's relatively new to us. We used bell pepper and green onions and onions, maybe some garlic."[5]

Origin of the name

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The name is an allusion to the Christian doctrine of the Trinity.[6] The term is first attested in 1981[7] and was probably popularized by Paul Prudhomme.[8]

See also

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• Mirepoix
• Sofrito
• Epis

References

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1. ^ Perrine, Patricia (1985). "Louisiana French Foodways: The Perpetuation of Ethnicity in the Lafourche Area". North American Culture. 2 (7). Society for the North American Cultural Survey – via Google Books.
2. ^ "Kitchen Basics: Mirepoix vs. Holy Trinity". NoshOn.It. Archived from the original on May 2, 2017. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
3. ^ Food52 (March 1, 2014). "The History is Gumbo". Yahoo! Lifestyle. Retrieved February 17, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
4. ^ V. Todd Miller. "For whom the bell grows: A brief history of the Cajun holy trinity". LSU Ag Centre.
5. ^ a b c Maloney, Ann (August 1, 2017). "'The Trinity': How onion, celery and bell pepper got that name". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
6. ^ Maloney, Ann (August 1, 2017). "Is it disrespectful to use the term 'the trinity' in the kitchen?". NOLA.com. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
7. ^ Claiborne, Craig (November 26, 1981). "Claiborne Shares 'Catfish Memories'". Florence Times. p. 20. Archived from the original on March 28, 2023 – via Google News.
8. ^ Claiborne, Craig (1982). A feast made for laughter. Doubleday. p. 30. ISBN 9780385157001 – via Google Books.

v t e Cajun cuisine
Ingredients	Andouille Crawfish Filé Holy trinity Louisiana Hot Sauce Rice Roux Steen's syrup Tasso ham Tabasco sauce Trappey's Hot Sauce
Methods	Baking Blackening Brochette Deep frying Fricassée Grilling Seafood boil Smoked meat Smothering
Dishes	Boudin Chaudin Couche Couche Cracklins Crawfish pie Dirty rice Cochon de Lait Étouffée Gumbo Gumbo des Herbes Hog's Head Cheese Jambalaya Maque choux Pecan praline Pistolette Red beans and rice Rice and gravy Sauce Piquante Shrimp creole Stuffed Mirliton Turducken
Chefs	John Besh Tony Chachere John Folse Emeril Lagasse Kay Prudhomme Paul Prudhomme Justin Wilson
See also	Cuisine of New Orleans
Category: Cajun cuisine

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