Jambalaya

A rice-based mélange of meats, seafood, vegetables, herbs, and spices, jambalaya is a representative fare of southern Louisiana cooking. Jambalaya, like its possible ancestral dish the Spanish paella, is versatile in preparation and composition. Commonly used as a leftover dish, jambalaya embodies all of the common Cajun and Creole flavors and ingredients.

Jambalaya predates the arrival of both the Cajun and Creole cultures. Spanish settlers who arrived in the early eighteenth century most likely introduced rice-centric dishes, like paella, to Louisiana. Rice, the central component of paella, imported from the West Indies by the French since 1718, grew in abundance along the Mississippi River. However, the other traditional ingredients of paella were not found in Louisiana. Creoles replaced paella’s clams, mussels, and squid with the indigenous oysters, shrimp, and less frequently crawfish. The Cajuns added andouille, a spicy smoked sausage, and fresh ham as a substitute for the Spanish cured variety. Linguists suggest that the name jambalaya, like its flavors, combines words from several languages; jambon translates in French to ham, and yaya is a West African word for rice.