Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A Creole dish consisting of rice that has been cooked with shrimp, oysters, ham, or chicken and seasoned with spices and herbs.
Wiktionary
- n. Any of various of rice-based dishes common in Louisiana Cajun or Creole cooking; most often with shrimp, oysters, chicken or ham
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A spicy Creole dish of rice with ham, sausage, chicken, or shellfish, plus tomatoes, and seasoned with peppers, onions, herbs, and celery.
WordNet 3.0
- n. spicy Creole dish of rice and ham, sausage, chicken, or shellfish with tomatoes, peppers, onions, and celery
Etymologies
- Louisiana French, from Provençal jambalaia.
Examples
“Fried oysters and jambalaya is my Harry's standard.”
“There is apparently plenty of conjecture over the origin of the word jambalaya; some hold that it is a corruption of the French word for ham, jambon.”
“When the leftovers were put in a pot with some rice and a bit of extra liquid and cooked until the rice was done, I then lifted the lid to take a look; even though I had no idea what the word jambalaya actually means, the contents of the pot in an onomatopoetic way looked like jambalaya if that makes sense - it is a dish that looks like it sounds, sort of a jumble of everything.”
“However, the second part of your story where you claimed that black people patronize a business called jambalaya juice, that is completely false.”
“• U.S. military purchases Gulf of Mexico seafood, boosting an industry battered by oil spill: Ten products, including fish, shrimp, oysters, crab cakes, and packaged Cajun dishes such as jambalaya and shrimp etouffee are being promoted at 72 base commissaries along the East Coast.”
“They're trying to create an awareness among Taiwanese about an exotic rice dish called, "jambalaya," which few people here have ever heard of.”
“Jambalaya is often made with ham, so the word "jambalaya" may be an amalgamation of the French words "jambon" and "a la," and an African word, "yaya," which means rice, reflective of both cultural influences from people in the Louisiana area.”
“Ten products including fish, shrimp, oysters, crab cakes, and packaged Cajun dishes such as jambalaya and shrimp etouffee are being promoted at 72 base commissaries along the East Coast, said Milt Ackerman, president of Military Solutions Inc., which is supplying seafood to the businesses.”
“The DPJ was established in 1998 as a "jambalaya" party, consisting of people who had abandoned the LDP, including Hatoyama himself, and the former Socialist Party.”
hernesheir I heard Chef Paul Prudhomme pronounce this word something like "jumble-AYa". That's as close to authentic as one get's, I suppose. Mar 5, 2011