Mardi Gras signals a time for fun, frivolity and food, glorious food. And there's no better fare to celebrate with than Louisiana-style cuisine.

Cajun and Creole recipes reign supreme all the time in bayou country. In other parts of the U.S., Mardi Gras season is the perfect opportunity to dish up the rich, regional cuisine.

In the Catholic tradition, Mardi Gras, French for "Fat Tuesday," marks the time set aside for indulging in all types of foodstuffs prior to Lent. The Mardi Gras, or carnival season, typically runs from the feast of the Epiphany, on Jan. 6, through Fat Tuesday, which will be Feb. 24 this year. Ash Wednesday then begins the Lenten season.

"It's food that's rustic, comforting and has a lot of flavor," said Celebrity Chef Jimmy Bannos, also known as Chicago's Creole/Cajun king.

Bannos, owner of Heaven on Seven restaurants, with locations in Chicago and Naperville, has celebrated Mardi Gras in a big and festive way since he opened the first Heaven on Seven in 1985.

This year, the restaurateur will again be featuring a full menu of Mardi Gras favorites as well as live musical entertainment through Fat Tuesday. Bannos said his celebration regularly begins at the end of January and goes a full two weeks.

A great deal of diners view the Cajun and Creole cuisines as pretty much interchangeable when they think of Louisiana fare. But, the experts say they do have definite differences.

"Creole is what you eat in the dining room and Cajun is what you eat in your kitchen," said Charlie Orr, owner of The Maple Tree Inn in Blue Island. Orr has been serving up Cajun and Creole specialties since 1980 at his original Maple Tree Inn, formerly located in Chicago's Beverly neighborhood.

He said, to water down the definition, Creole is a little more "embellished" while Cajun is more "simple."

Adds Bannos, "Cajun is more country cooking while Creole is more city cooking."

Cajun cuisine features a lot more one-pot dishes while Creole stars a melting pot of flavors including the fusion of Spanish, African, French and Mediterrean ingredients, he said. And Louisiana-style fare is also often mistaken for a cuisine that's always hot and spicy. But it doesn't have to be, the experts said. In general, Cajun-style foods tend to have a bit more "heat" than Creole style.

Maple Tree's Orr said, this year he'll again put an abundance of Creole and Cajun favorites in the spotlight for his Mardi Gras party on Fat Tuesday. He'll offer an all-you-can-eat food extravaganza ($30) featuring boiled shrimp, soft shell crabs, red beans and rice, peanut slaw, smothered okra, ribs, bread pudding and more.

Bannos said he never tires of the variety of Louisiana favorites which are a big hit at Mardi Gras time. Popular dishes include Cajun gumbo and jambalaya, the Creole-inspired New Orleans barbecue shrimp and his own rendition of jambalaya, called orzolaya. Bannos' orzolaya, stars orzo, which is an Italian type of pasta.

For Leslie Kotvasz, owner/operator of Ursuline's Kitchen in Merrillville, Mardi Gras is the perfect time to introduce diners to the plethora of interesting foods and flavors that are a part of the Crescent City's culinary profile.

"Everyone really loves the food. It's really down-home cooking," Kotvasz said, adding her restaurant is noted for New Orleans style cuisine including gumbo, crab cakes, jambalaya, crawfish etouffee as well as Albita beer straight from Louisiana.

Ursuline's Kitchen, she said, has affectionately been called "the bayou off Broadway" by locals.

Kotvasz will celebrate Mardi Gras this year by offering her usual array of dishes and entertainment at a special party and art show, scheduled for Saturday.

Chef Donald Link, owner of New Orleans restaurants HerbSaint and Cochon, said one of the most frequent questions he's asked is about the differences between Cajun and Creole food.

"It is confusing for people," he said, adding sometimes today, in light of the variety of renditions different chefs give to the food, it's often hard to define some of the differences.

"There are many interpretations of the food now," Link said. The chef recently completed the book "Real Cajun," scheduled to be released in April.

At his restaurant Cochon, Link said he features a great deal of Cajun and Southern foods he remembers enjoying during his childhood. Smothered pork was always a favorite, he said.

According to Link, the Louisiana style cuisine is a "very unique food with a lot of flavors going on."

He said seafood and pork are big components of authentic Cajun food with less of an emphasis on red meat.

Though he grew up eating Cajun dishes, Link said he never gets bored with the food.

"Every day I eat a cup of gumbo and I still make smothered pork at home."

While Louisiana-style fare has long had its share of fans miles away from the bayou, Judy Jurisich, founder of the New Orleans Cooking Experience school, in New Orleans, said she's noticed a renewed interest in the cuisine by locals and others.

"Cajun and Creole cuisine are both indigenous American cuisines. And people are interested in regional cuisine today," Jurisich said.

Jurisich' New Orleans Cooking Experience (neworleanscookingexperience.com) was established in 2004 in The House on Bayou Road bed and breakfast. She said "people from each and every state" have taken classes at the school, which is housed in a plantation home dating to 1798. Her team of five instructors features professional chefs, a food historian and other food experts.

She started the school because she felt there was a "need" for people to learn more about the popular Southern cuisine.

"People are curious about the cuisine and hungry for authentic information about it," Jurisich said. "We blend history with the food and take it to a higher level."