Food Allergies in New Orleans: Roux, Boils and Beignets

Food allergies in New Orleans meet a cuisine built on flour and fat, shellfish, pecans, milk and eggs, so the classic dishes are worth a question before you order. Wheat, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, milk, eggs and sesame all appear in famous local plates, and a plated dish is not labeled like a package.

Your doctor decides what is right for you; this is how to take the city's best-known dishes one question at a time.

Which classic dishes matter for food allergies in New Orleans?

Wikipedia's article on the city's cuisine describes gumbo as a stew of meat or shellfish, étouffée as cooked by smothering, boiled seafood served with corn and potatoes, the po' boy on French bread, the muffuletta on round Italian bread with sesame seeds, beignets as fried dough with powdered sugar, pralines as a candy of pecans, sugar, butter and cream, and bread pudding as a dessert of bread, milk, eggs and sugar.

Read that list as a list of allergens: shellfish, wheat, sesame, tree nuts, milk and eggs. The pattern is useful for planning a day of eating, because breakfast, lunch and dessert each lean on a different one, and a question asked at the first stop saves a surprise at the last. Our Creole and Cajun guide explains the dishes themselves.

What does a roux mean for your order?

A roux is flour cooked in fat, and it is the base of many sauces in this cooking. The same Wikipedia article says gumbo is thickened with okra, filé powder or roux, that étouffée uses it with Cajun spices, and that Oysters Bienville use a version made with butter. In general cooking, that means wheat flour and a fat such as butter or oil.

That makes the thickener a first question. Ask whether the gumbo uses okra, filé or flour, and what the fat is. The same base can sit inside dishes that do not look floury, such as a smothered plate or a creamy sauce, so ask about the sauce, not only the stew. A plain request such as "what thickens this?" gets a quick, honest answer from most cooks.

What should you ask about a crawfish boil and boiled seafood?

A boil puts crawfish, shrimp or crab in one pot of seasoned water, often with corn and potatoes. The FDA lists crustacean shellfish such as crab, lobster and shrimp as a major allergen, and Health Canada's seafood page counts crayfish, called crawfish here, as a crustacean.

Two questions matter. First, the pot: corn and potatoes that cook in the same water as the shellfish pick up what is in it, and the seasoning blend varies by kitchen, so ask what it contains. Second, the word "shellfish": oysters are molluscs, and the FDA says molluscs such as oysters and clams are not a major food allergen under federal labeling law, so a server's answer about "shellfish" may not cover them. Say which animal you mean.

Are beignets and pralines a question of eggs and nuts?

Beignets are fried dough finished with powdered sugar. The usual recipe for a yeast or choux-style dough uses wheat flour, and many include milk and eggs, but recipes differ, so ask. The oil matters too, because a fryer that cooks dough also cooks whatever else is in the basket.

Pralines are pecans cooked with sugar, butter and cream, which makes them a tree nut and milk question at once. The FDA table of tree nuts includes the pecan. Ask for a clean utensil and whether a tray is shared with other candy. Candy sold as a gift in a wrapped package does fall under federal labeling rules, so read that label, and keep the habit of asking about anything sold loose.

What about po' boys, muffulettas and bread pudding?

The po' boy's bread is French bread, which is wheat, and the fillings run from fried shrimp and oysters to roast beef. A fried filling has a coating and a fryer, both worth a question. The muffuletta's round Italian bread is described with sesame seeds, and sesame became the ninth major food allergen on January 1, 2023, according to the FDA, so ask about the bread when sesame matters.

Bread pudding is bread, milk, eggs and sugar, and a sauce on top may add butter or nuts. None of this is unusual, which is exactly why a quick question beats a guess.

How can Mosey help you remember the answers in New Orleans?

Rate the dish you ate, not just the place, and note what the kitchen said about the thickener, the boil seasoning or the bread. Tags are one diner's note on one visit, never a promise. Follow friends who share your allergy and their rated and saved dishes appear beside yours, and a list called Asked and answered keeps the questions together.

The app can also hide dishes whose place has listed an allergen you choose, such as wheat or milk. A dish with nothing filled in stays visible and says it is not listed, and the filter never removes places. Your choice stays on your phone. The ratings page and the lists page explain the basics.

What else covers New Orleans?

For more, see the crawfish season guide, the Boston allergy guide, Creole lunch plates, the shellfish allergy guide for Charleston and the US food guides.

Mosey is free to list on, has no hidden fees and offers affordable tools, which helps the small kitchens that keep this city's food going. A place can declare its allergens for each dish in its own dashboard.

On your next visit to New Orleans, get the Mosey app, rate the plate you ate and save the answer you were given.