I absolutely love the big, bold flavours in this dish. This recipe uses alligator, which is as common in Louisiana as pork chops are in Britain, but you’ll get equally amazing results using chicken breast, pork loin or even prawns. The marinade has real attitude, and the fresh zingy salsa goes so well with it. If you’ve got time, it’s nice to leave your meat marinating overnight, but it will still be delicious if you only marinate for 30 minutes. If you can’t get hold of green tomatoes for your salsa, use a couple of extra red ones instead. Just be sure to deseed them first or the salsa will be too wet.

My Cajun mate, Dave Allemande, who runs the McGee’s Landing restaurant in Henderson, adds creole mustard to his marinade because he says it “makes the flavours sing”. Creole mustard is similar to wholegrain french mustard and adds a really nice heat. After trying Dave’s wonderful food, I’m not going to argue with him.

Serves 4

750g chicken breasts, pork loin or alligator tail (if you can find it), cut into 1cm-thick slices

4 sweet potatoes (about 200g each), wrapped in foil

For the cajun marinade

1 level tsp cayenne pepper

1 level tsp paprika

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 small bunch of fresh oregano, leaves picked

1 small bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked

1 fresh bay leaf, spine removed, torn into pieces

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