We take the ubiquity of blackened fish on restaurant menus (or home dinner tables) for granted sometimes, but the technique for cooking the now-common, spice-encrusted, pan-seared filet with the nearly burnt appearance has its own origin story. He originally used it on redfish, and after playing with different iterations of the method, he decided upon a cast iron pan as the proper vessel to make it happen. This was in March 1980, and the dish became an overnight sensation.
Long lines started forming outside his restaurant, K-Paul, and overall demand for the dish directly caused the overfishing of redfish. This resulted in a commercial harvesting regulation overhaul to allow redfish to grow its population back. Fortunately, the blackening approach also works with other types of fish and seafood, along with pork, chicken ( ), and steak.
What is blackening seasoning made of? Paul Prudhomme's blackening seasoning features dry pantry herbs and spices that most of us have at home, including paprika, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne, thyme, and oregano ( has the full recipe). Basically, your fish takes a generous dredging in the spice mixture and cooks in a ripping hot cast iron skillet, which gives the fish sort of a mock char to it as the seasonings solidify to create a crust. The crust is the coveted part that makes blackening so unique.
Prudhomme is also credited with starting the farm-to-table movement where locally sourced ingredients are prioritized; he grew up on a.