From La Cuisine Creole, 1885, Lafcadio Hearn
(New Orleans writer of fiction and author of this cookbook)
Jimbalaya (Hearn's spelling of Jambalaya)
A fowl
1 cup raw rice
(1 onion)
(1-2 stalks celery)
(1-1 1/2 quarts water)
1 slice cooked, minced ham
Salt and pepper
(1/4 teaspoon powdered sassafras or filée powder)
Cut up and stew a fowl (with an onion and 1-2 stalks celery in 1-1 ½ quarts water); when half done, add 1 cup of raw rice, 1 slice of ham minced, and pepper and salt; let all cook together (covered) until the rice swells and absorbs all the gravy of the stewed chicken, but it must not be allowed to get hard or dry. (Now add the powdered sassafras or filée powder.) Serve in a deep dish. Southern children are very fond of this; it is said to be an Indian dish, and very wholesome as well as palatable; it can be made of many things.
Jane’s note: filée is powdered leaves of the sassafras tree and is an essential ingredient of Cajun cuisine. © 2009 All rights reserved.
