Sometimes I can be such a doofus.
The spouse and I were negotiating the big meal of the week, the meal that provides us our Sunday dinner then fills our lunches for much of the week.
“How about jambalaya?” she asked, then followed. “Well, we just had it a few weeks ago.”
“That was gumbo,” I said.
“What’s the difference?”
Long pause. I actually didn’t know, hence the doofus title.
After perusing the internet for a while, the two dishes have a similar history and parts list. The modern recipes are either Cajun or Creole. The Creole comes with tomatoes and a history centered around the Caribbean or of Europeans born in the western hemisphere (accounts vary.) The Cajun recipes skip the tomatoes and come with a Canadian influence.
Actually, both dishes have heavy influences from West Africa, French and Spanish cuisines.
So what’s the difference? Gumbo has a flour-based roux and a thickener — okra, filet powder or both. It’s served over rice. Jambalaya has no thickeners, but the rice is cooked right in with the dish, absorbing much of the liquid.
Otherwise, the taste is whatever you want to make of it. About the only common ingredients are the holy trinity — onion, bell pepper and celery.
I’ve made jambalaya before, but after all that research, I was eager to put my newfound education to use. You’d be surprised what passes for jambalaya.
One recipe called for Italian sausage and basil, which basically sounds like Italian rice, rather than something in the African-French-Spanish line. Others called for Worcestershire sauce, very English. Some had virtually no spice.
My recipe, cobbled together from a half-dozen others and supplemented with the flavors in my cupboard, is pretty similar to more authentic versions. I like Andouille sausage, but you can get by with chorizo. I suppose any French or Spanish sausage would work well, given the origins of the dish. You can play with heat and the rest of the spices as you wish, but thyme, cayenne and oregano are common. This recipe follows the Creole tradition and includes tomatoes, but you don’t have to.
The point: To make jambalaya, cook the rice with the stew. To make gumbo, cook it separately.
SHRIMP JAMBALAYA
3 Tbs. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup diced celery
1 medium bell pepper, sliced or diced
4 Tbs. minced garlic
½ pound chicken breast or thigh, cut into half-inch pieces
1 pound Andouille sausage, sliced
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp. ground black or white pepper
1 Tbs. Smoked paprika
1 tsp. thyme
1 Tbs. oregano
2-3 bay leaves
Salt to taste
1 quart diced tomatoes
3 cups chicken stock
1 1/4 cup uncooked rice
2 pounds shrimp, peeled.
Heat the pan, add the oil and then add the onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic. Sweat for 3-4 minutes. Then add the oregano, basil and thyme.
Add chicken and sausage and cook on medium-low heat until browned.
Add the chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, and rice and stir to incorporate.
You’ll want to bring the pot to a light boil on medium heat, then reduce the heat before covering. If you use brown rice, simmer for 40 minutes; simmer for 20 minutes with white rice.
Add the shrimp in the last 10 minutes of cooking to avoid overcooking it.
Play with it: Use more chicken and less shrimp; or maybe toss scallops or other seafood in instead of the shrimp. If you like more heat, add more cayenne, although much more than 1 1/2 tsp. will be a serious sinus drainer. Certainly, you can play with different ratios of the other herbs and spices.
