Étouffée or etouffee is a dish found in both Cajun and Creole cuisine typically served with shellfish over rice. The dish employs a technique known as smothering, a popular method of cooking in the Cajun cuisine and Creole areas of southwest Louisiana. Étouffée is most popular in New Orleans and in the Acadiana region of the southernmost half of Louisiana as well as the coastal counties of Mississippi, Alabama, northern Florida, and eastern Texas.
The term étuvée is used in French for the technique of cooking food in a tightly closed vessel with very little added liquid, according to Larousse (1961) (see also etuver).