Walk the aisles of an American supermarket or grocer and you can find all kinds of cuisine in boxes, bags and jars, ready to take home and cook. Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Indian, a smattering of Middle-Eastern, kosher specialties, Japanese, Spanish, British.... Sources vary, everything from imports with a U. S. label slapped over the original to American-as-apple-pie names like La Choy and Michaels of Brooklyn. And there are plenty of "foreign" foods that were invented or modified right here.
Some "exotic" food isn't foreign at all, like when a Basque-descended Lousianaian* grocer invented his own root beer formula and sold it in his New Orleans store. He found the extract had a long shelf-life and sold especially well, and that got him into the extract, spice and condiment business. By and by, Emilie Zatarain was selling prepackaged mixes. 77 years and a generation or two later, the family sold the company† and it's still around.
In Broad Ripple -- all over Indianapolis and well beyond, in fact -- I can go around the corner and pick up authentic Cajun/Creole food, ready to go. But last night was chilly, a good time for cooking, and I had a box of Zatarain's Jambalaya Rice Mix that needed used up. With that in mind, Tam and I had taken a good long walk in the morning, ending up at our neighborhood grocery store. I picked up a couple of Anaheim peppers, mild but flavorful, and a couple of large sausages, one Andouille and one Chorizo.
That was a good start. I browned the sausage (Chorizo around here doesn't appear to be fully cured, ready-to-eat. It's a pretty wide term) while I diced the peppers and a carrot, drained most of the fat, and sauteed the peppers and carrot with the meat pushed to the side of the pot. I chopped up and added a half-dozen large cherry tomatoes while sauteeing. Once the peppers started smelling delicious -- and they are -- I added two and a half cups of water along with the rice mix and a little dehydrated onion for luck, brought it to a boil, set the heat to low, covered it and spent 25 minutes cleaning up the work area.
That's all it takes. What we ended up with was tasty, fragrant and filling.
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* That's the wrong demonym but the right one doesn't travel well.
† The most recent time the company changed hands was in 1993, when it sold for $180 million. Not bad for something that began as a grocer's sideline.
Well, Vizcayan/Biscayan covers the Basque descent angle...
ReplyDeleteI'll leave you with the conundrum that a city that is completely at or below sea level (Miami) fronts a body of water whose name refers to mountainous or hilly terrain (Biscayne Bay)
Zatarain Jambalaya or Dirty Rice mix is almost always in our pantry. We're seldom without some sort of sausage and peppers on hand, so we can whip up a fast tasty meal without much thought.
ReplyDeleteMy Hunky Husband (HH), a picky eater, has never complained when I've served anything based on a Zatarain boxed mix. Generally, I use the red or black beans & rice variety, adding more rice and chopped veggies to thin out the salt concentration. HH isn't picky about what variety of sausage or ham I throw in. I did not, of course, know Mr Zatarain's background or the progress of his company. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteA box or two of their mix on the shelf is a nice thing to have, and like Cop Car and Grich, I always add a little something to cut the salt. I think that's what they intended.
ReplyDeleteI thought the backstory was fascinating, and now I wonder whatever became of Papoose Root Beer.