Dishes · A classic of Creole and Cajun · South Louisiana
Jambalaya
Rice cooked in one pot with the holy trinity, smoked sausage and chicken or seafood, until it has soaked up everything.
What makes it jambalaya
- Rice cooked in the pot, not alongside.
- Smoked sausage, and chicken, pork or seafood.
- The trinity, and plenty of cayenne.
Where it comes from
It's often linked to Spanish paella and to West African jollof, and it probably owes something to both; where the name comes from is argued over. Like jollof, the rice cooks in the pot with everything else rather than being served beside it.
There are two kinds. Creole jambalaya, the city's, is red with tomatoes; Cajun jambalaya, the country's, is brown, coloured only by the meat browned in the pot. Big churches and festivals cook it in cast-iron pots the size of a bath.
How it varies
- Creole (red)
- With tomatoes, and often prawns.
- Cajun (brown)
- No tomato — the colour comes from browning the meat hard.
Be the first here
Start your own jambalayaNo one here has made jambalaya yet. Start it as v1, and every version after is an experiment the next cook can learn from.
Near it
Creole and CajunGumboA thick, dark stew-soup built on a roux and the holy trinity, with meat or seafood, served over rice.No one here has made it yet
NigerianJollof riceRice cooked in a fried-down base of tomato, pepper and scotch bonnet, until each grain is red and separate.1 version hereValencianPaella valencianaRice cooked in a thin layer in a wide, shallow pan with chicken, rabbit, flat green beans, butter beans and saffron.No one here has made it yet
NigerianJollof riceRice cooked in a fried-down base of tomato, pepper and scotch bonnet, until each grain is red and separate.1 version hereValencianPaella valencianaRice cooked in a thin layer in a wide, shallow pan with chicken, rabbit, flat green beans, butter beans and saffron.No one here has made it yet