Where Did the Word Jambalaya Come From?
No one really knows for sure where the word jambalaya came from, or the food for that matter. It is traditionally accepted to be a casserole-style, one-pot dish from Louisiana, but it’s possible that it’s even older than that. At the very least, we do know that it is inspired by Spanish and French cuisine and that it is always a mish-mash or jumble of all kinds of ingredients.
Most likely, jambalaya was first cooked in Louisiana amongst a group of people so diverse, it would give modern-day New York City a run for her money. Louisiana had everybody, having been traded back and forth between the French and the Spanish a few times before being purchased and adopted by the United States. There were Native Americans, settlers from France and Spain, and African slaves, all bringing with them different culinary traditions and languages. And that’s where the confusion really begins.
The origins of the word “jambalaya” are as mysterious and jumbled as the dish itself. One theory is that it is a combination of the French word for ham, “jambon,” the French “à la” (in the style of), and an African word for rice, “ya.” However, no one has been able to find any African language that has any such word for rice.
Another, more plausible theory is that it’s a combination of two Spanish words: “jamòn” (ham) and “paella” (a traditional Spanish rice dish). There are really only two problems with this. The first is that ham is not a prominent ingredient in jambalaya, but we don’t know if perhaps it could have been at one time. The second problem is that in Spanish, you wouldn’t say “jamòn paella.” You would say “paella de jamòn.”
However, when so many language groups come together like they did in Louisiana, a funny thing happens to them. They end up creating an entirely new language, taking bits and pieces from all of their original language, in order to communicate. So it’s possible that the Spanish words were combined under a new creole syntax to create the word jambalaya.
Still, there is a third theory that the dish was created and named in France and brought with the French settlers to Louisiana. This theory is supported by the written use of the word jambalaya in French poetry as early at 1837. Curiously, however, it is not used in reference to food, but merely to describe a mish-mash of people. If this is the origin of the word jambalaya, then the food is named after an earlier concept, a general heterogony.
Or it could be as simple as an old folks tale that tells of a traveler arriving at a New Orleans inn after the evening meal had been served. There was not much food left, so the traveler said to Jean, the cook, “Jean, balayez” (“Jean, sweep something together”). The cook threw all the leftovers into a pot, and the resulting dish was named after the order that inspired its creation.
So where did jambalaya come from? Probably Louisiana. Where did the word jambalaya come from? Your guess is as good as anyone’s, but many people prefer the folk tale.
What Is Jambalaya?
Jambalaya is, by the most basic definition, a rice dish. It generally includes chicken, rice, herbs and spices, although it may also include sausage or ham and vegetables (especially tomatoes). What distinguishes it from other rice dishes is that rather than cooking the rice separately and then combining everything after it’s done, the uncooked rice is simply added to the pot where the chicken is already cooking. In this way, the rice is cooked in the broth, soaking up all the flavors of the other ingredients along the way.
There are two broad categories of jambalaya – Cajun and Creole. Creole jambalaya is considered to be the original, and it is the one that includes tomatoes (it is also called “red jambalaya”). Creole jambalaya is thought by some to be more refined, relying heavily on cream and butter for its rich taste, and including meats like chicken and sausage. Cajun jambalaya uses more animal fat, features bolder, spicier flavors, and is thought to have originated in the countryside. For this reason, it tends to use more wild game – duck, venison, boar, turtle, alligator, etc.
Where Did Jambalaya Come From?
Most historians agree that jambalaya was first cooked in the original European part of New Orleans – the part now known as the “French Quarter.” The theory is that jambalaya was the result of Spanish immigrants’ attempts to cook paella with the limited ingredients available to them in the New World. It is possible that jambalaya was first cooked in Provence (southern France) and brought to Louisiana later, but no one can be entirely sure.