Description: Tall tales & apocrypha from an anxious son of the South
“Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and filé gumbo; cause tonight I’m gonna see my ma cher amio…” Hank Williams
I recently made the perfect jambalaya! Why was it perfect? Because it tasted just like the jambalaya I have been served so many times in New Orleans at large family gatherings, often during Carnival but also year round, including even the Marriott-managed cafeteria at Loyola University. The special trick behind the perfectness of this jambalaya – precisely following Tom Fitzmorris’ recipe , including using Uncle Ben’s parboiled rice.
I have traditionally used Mahatma long-grain rice in making jambalaya. I am not generally a fan of Uncle Ben’s, but I have had such good luck in reproducing versions of other New Orleans classics using Tom’s recipes that I decided to follow his advice. The results in this case were, well, perfect, at least to my taste buds, with the rice demonstrating a slightly al dente firms that nonetheless took on the characteristics of the seasoned red broth in which it steamed.