Brits Try To Make Jambalaya for the first time! Patreon! FULL COOK ALONG
Added 2024-10-21 23:32:14 +0000 UTC
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The fundamental difference between jambalaya and gumbo is that with jambalaya, the rice is cooked in the pot with everything else. Gumbo is a soup or stew that is ladled onto separately cooked rice (or a scoop of rice is put in the bowl of soup). When making gumbo, a famous cajun chef said "first start with a roux". in case you don't know, roux is a mixture of fat--butter, bacon grease, lard, chicken fat--and flour in about equal proportions cooked slowly until it turns some shade of brown. Different dishes call for lighter or darker shades. The roux for gumbo is usually fairly dark. As you learned, there is no roux or thickener in jambalaya because the rice absorbs all the moisture as it cooks.
BTinSF
2024-10-22 21:31:15 +0000 UTCLots of good advice above talking about the difference between Creole and Cajun versions of Jambalaya, I just wanted to add that Jambalaya is usually much dryer than that, think more like a Oriental stir fried rice moisture level than a stew. Also long grain rice is the most common type of rice used in Louisiana. Here is a fairly good write up on the differences between Creole and Cajun food https://www.explorelouisiana.com/articles/cajun-vs-creole-food-what-difference
Ike Stewart
2024-10-22 17:44:37 +0000 UTCYou did a great job, it looks delicious. Next time, make it in a stock pot, you can brown your proteins in it as well so it's still all in one pot.
Amy B
2024-10-22 11:47:08 +0000 UTCIf you don't like seafood, there are a million versions of jambalaya without it. My favorite is andouille (Cajun smoked pork sausage) and chicken. But every time the edge of your knife clicked on that hard marble cutting surface, it gave me pain. Save your knives: Get a wooden cutting board. That's one heck of a lot of tomato. As others have said, the cajun version of jambalaya has NO tomato (except sometimes a tiny dab of tomato paste). All the creole versions I've seen have maybe ΒΌ to β that amount of tomato. As James said, "very tomatoey sauce" and it's not supposed to be. The tomato is supposed to complement the meat flavors, not overwhelm them. The so-called "cajun trinity" of veggies is onion, bell peppers and celery (approximately equal amounts of each) and there is no substitute. Sorry--hate to be excessively critical--but you should have used whole chopped green pepper as well as chopped celery. Here's how my favorite recipe does it: Stew the chicken separately resulting in BOTH chicken meat and chicken stock. In the Dutch oven, fry first the ham or pork sausage (the name jambalaya comes from the French word for ham: Jambon). Remove from the pot and fry the "trinity" veggies until the onion is translucent (if you are using garlic, add it late in the process because it can burn). When the veggies are ready, return the sausage to the pot, chop the chicken meat and add, add tomato if using and stir around to cook the tomato a bit. Finally add the rice, stock and seasoning (heavy on the bay leaves and thyme) and stick it in the oven per your recipe. As for the rice controversy, American Cajun and Creole cooking uses long grain rice as you did. The confusion comes because Spanish paella, which in many ways is a very similar dish, uses short-grained Spanish rice.
BTinSF
2024-10-22 07:10:19 +0000 UTCMum, buy a Dutch oven or a small stock pot. I'm stunned the rice was able to cook thoroughly without most of the broth. Looked tasty though!
Robert Nelson
2024-10-22 04:08:34 +0000 UTCLooks tasty! Cajun vs Creole seasoning is really a matter of taste. Cajun spice focuses more on ground peppers while Creole is more focused on herbs. But since you had recipe that called for tomatoes then the Creole seasoning is probably a better choice for that version of jambalaya. There is also a Cajun version, sometimes referred to as "brown jambalaya" that doesn't call for tomatoes. I love NOLa (New Orleans) foods. All hail the Holy Trinity!
Dianne Hofstedt
2024-10-22 02:43:28 +0000 UTCBeautiful job! I would definitely always opt for the Cajun spice personally. You are so fun to watch! Iβve been watching James and Millie for a long time. Actually it was just James when I started. Seems like every time he adds one of the wonderful ladies in his life (Millie, Millieβs mum, now you!) it just gets better. Makes my heart happy. We love you, too! πΊπΈβ€οΈπ―πͺ
Matt Marzani
2024-10-22 02:07:46 +0000 UTCJames, good on you for trying the prawn. You don't have to love them but your "I'm willing to try this food" attitude will pay off big time with Archie in the near future,
Michael Gonzales
2024-10-22 01:59:01 +0000 UTCIt will be better the next day. The flavors will intensify.
Kenny P
2024-10-22 00:00:47 +0000 UTC
