Zanzibar Blue’s Shrimp Étouffée recipe

At Zanzibar Blue, the food was never pedestrian.

• By Michael Klein
• Published Jul 14, 2022

At Zanzibar Blue, the food under opening chef Eleanor Triboletti was mainly Mediterranean with a touch of Creole, and picked up a more international flair from chef to chef. (Ben stepped into the kitchen after the move from South 11th Street to Broad Street.) The food was never pedestrian.

The first published review appeared in the Philadelphia Daily News, under the headline “Menu takes a chance & you win.” Writer Maria Gallagher praised the venison medallions in what she called “an outrageous raspberry-sage sauce,” priced at $19.50 (about $44 in today’s dollars). “I like a restaurant that takes risks,” Gallagher wrote. “I hope Zanzibar Blue continues to do so.”

Over the years, the crab cakes (served with two sauces), the shrimp étouffée (featuring a rich, peppery sauce), sweet potato soup (bubbling with black-eye peas and wild rice), and red velvet cake (popularized by the 1989 film Steel Magnolias) became favorites.

The word étouffée means “to smother” in French, and is very popular in New Orleans and in the Cajun country of Louisiana’s Atchafalaya Basin to the west. Usually a rich, spicy gravy, this dish consists of crayfish or shrimp smothered in a thick, peppery sauce served over rice.

Shrimp étouffée

¼ cup vegetable oil plus 2 tablespoons

1 pound medium shrimp, deveined

3 teaspoons crushed garlic

2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning

1 teaspoon paprika

1 small onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 rib celery, diced

¼ cup flour

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 cups dry white wine

¼ cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons fresh thyme

Salt & black pepper

Cooked white rice or grits, to serve

Add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil to pan over medium heat. Sauté the shrimp for 4 minutes. Remove and set aside. Add ¼ cup vegetable oil, and then stir in garlic, Cajun seasoning, and paprika. Cook for 30 seconds until aromatic.

Add onions, peppers, and celery, cooking for 4 minutes, until softened. Add flour and continue stirring while cooking for 3 additional minutes. Return cooked shrimp to the pan and slowly stir in the white wine. A thick gravy should form; if you want to thin the sauce, add ¼ cup of water at time and stir, until achieving desired thickness. Add fresh thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve over cooked white rice or grits for a true Southern favorite.