Blackening (cooking)

Blackened fish is a preparation of fish fillets or steaks. Though often associated with traditional Cajun cuisine, it is in fact a modern invention of chef Paul Prudhomme. It consists of pieces of fish dredged in butter and seasoned with a mixture of herbs and spices. The fish is cooked in an extremely hot cast iron skillet. Blackening comes from the butter charring in the pan, not from the spices. When the butter chars the instant it lands in the pan, it creates a sealing crust on the fish that keeps it from drying out. The spice mixture usually contains some combination of thyme, oregano, chili pepper, peppercorns and salt.

While the original recipe calls for redfish, the same method of preparation can be applied to other types of fish and to other protein sources, such as steak or chicken cutlets.