Yama to Shokuyoku to Watashi - Vol. 3 Ch. 24 - The Silent Jambalaya

[MangaDex]

 

[Mweeheehee]

@motokare Jambalaya origin is even more complicated than the manga tries to get into. Good summary from seriouseats-

"Many accounts of the history of jambalaya point to paella, which was brought by Spanish immigrants to New Orleans in the early 18th century, as its ancestor. New Orleans is without question a singular amalgam of global influences—African, Caribbean, Native American, French, and more—so the role of paella can't be ruled out, but that explanation prioritizes European influence while overlooking a much likelier primary ancestor: Jollof Rice from West Africa. The similarities between jambalaya and jollof rice, which is also cooked in a pot with a flavorful reddish base of tomatoes and peppers, are much more striking than those with paella. Add to that the profound influence of African cooking on Southern American food, and jollof is the much stronger explanation. Then again, Spain has its own close historic ties to North and West Africa, so perhaps the threads crisscross over distance and time in more complex and interesting ways."

And even the origins of Paella in Valencia is from Moorish rule, as noted in that last sentence. And then there is the difference between Cajun and Creole- "Two main categories of jambalaya exist: Creole (or red) jambalaya, which is associated with the city of New Orleans and contains tomato, and Cajun (or brown) jambalaya, which contains no tomato and is more common in other parts of Louisiana." Tho this gets pretty muddled within the Gulf region and Bayou itself, although the late queen of Creole Cuisine, Leah Chase of the Dooky Chase restaurant, did use tomato in hers so if going by that standard, Ayumi made a creole style jambalaya.

 

[motokare]

@motokare Jambalaya origin is even more complicated than the manga tries to get into. Good summary from seriouseats-

"Many accounts of the history of jambalaya point to paella, which was brought by Spanish immigrants to New Orleans in the early 18th century, as its ancestor. New Orleans is without question a singular amalgam of global influences—African, Caribbean, Native American, French, and more—so the role of paella can't be ruled out, but that explanation prioritizes European influence while overlooking a much likelier primary ancestor: Jollof Rice from West Africa. The similarities between jambalaya and jollof rice, which is also cooked in a pot with a flavorful reddish base of tomatoes and peppers, are much more striking than those with paella. Add to that the profound influence of African cooking on Southern American food, and jollof is the much stronger explanation. Then again, Spain has its own close historic ties to North and West Africa, so perhaps the threads crisscross over distance and time in more complex and interesting ways."

And even the origins of Paella in Valencia is from Moorish rule, as noted in that last sentence. And then there is the difference between Cajun and Creole- "Two main categories of jambalaya exist: Creole (or red) jambalaya, which is associated with the city of New Orleans and contains tomato, and Cajun (or brown) jambalaya, which contains no tomato and is more common in other parts of Louisiana." Tho this gets pretty muddled within the Gulf region and Bayou itself, although the late queen of Creole Cuisine, Leah Chase of the Dooky Chase restaurant, did use tomato in hers so if going by that standard, Ayumi made a creole style jambalaya.

While I know what's Jambalaya is, I'm not familiar with its roots, but when you just take into account of what's being explained by the author, I find it weird that Cajun is supposed to come from rustic/peasant french cuisine (as per the author) and then suddenly paella appeared. That's not french! But French pilaf rice (riz pilaf) exist, is a real dish, and just like the rest of the pilaf, jollof, pulau, pollo of the rest of the world, originated from the Abbasid Caliphate (but obviously with a French flair/influence), and for the record, Parisian style pilaf does add diced tomatoes and/or tomato puree.

 

[Mweeheehee]

While I know what's Jambalaya is, I'm not familiar with its roots, but when you just take into account of what's being explained by the author, I find it weird that Cajun is supposed to come from rustic/peasant french cuisine (as per the author) and then suddenly paella appeared. That's not french! But French pilaf rice (riz pilaf) exist, is a real dish, and just like the rest of the pilaf, jollof, pulau, pollo of the rest of the world, originated from the Abbasid Caliphate (but obviously with a French flair/influence), and for the record, Parisian style pilaf does add diced tomatoes and/or tomato puree.

It would certainly make for an interesting culinary anthropological study, if a difficult one to parse- would the acadians have brought that specific formulation with them? Or would a French Pilaf influence have come through port trade? The former seems possible, the latter ?maybe? a little less likely considering how many influences were in the area. Even the paella root could be considered a bit muddled- as you say, the "spicing" component that makes it "cajun", at least in the modern sense, certainly is not featured there. But then there is contention that it comes from France again via Thieboudienne/Senegal. There's also Lowcountry red rice that has jollof roots, with the Islamic influence and spread via the Dyula merchant tribe, and with slaves doing most if not all the cooking in antebellum period, perhaps jollof is under credited.

 

[motokare]

It would certainly make for an interesting culinary anthropological study, if a difficult one to parse- would the acadians have brought that specific formulation with them? Or would a French Pilaf influence have come through port trade? The former seems possible, the latter ?maybe? a little less likely considering how many influences were in the area. Even the paella root could be considered a bit muddled- as you say, the "spicing" component that makes it "cajun", at least in the modern sense, certainly is not featured there. But then there is contention that it comes from France again via Thieboudienne/Senegal. There's also Lowcountry red rice that has jollof roots, with the Islamic influence and spread via the Dyula merchant tribe, and with slaves doing most if not all the cooking in antebellum period, perhaps jollof is under credited.

The peasant/rustic version of the french pilaf are more heavily spiced compared to the Parisian style one which is more 'fancy' which thanks to the emergence of haute cuisine and chefs like Escoffier means the pilaf refined into a very light (and bland version) and cooked (the standard version) using chicken broth (no meats) + onion, thyme, bay leaf, adding diced tomato and sometimes raisins) meant as a sides, while the peasant version features meats like lamb, heavier on the spices (more 'middle east' influence) and more of a entree

 

[Mweeheehee]

The peasant/rustic version of the french pilaf are more heavily spiced compared to the Parisian style one which is more 'fancy' which thanks to the emergence of haute cuisine and chefs like Escoffier means the pilaf refined into a very light (and bland version) and cooked (the standard version) using chicken broth (no meats) + onion, thyme, bay leaf, adding diced tomato and sometimes raisins) meant as a sides, while the peasant version features meats like lamb, heavier on the spices (more 'middle east' influence) and more of a entree

certainly shows how permeable and difficult it is to define- trying to pin it down to current nation states certainly is very modern, rather than cultural/imperial spheres (and even then, I know of some bretons who are insulted to be identified as french), or civilization. Particularly in this case, cajun/creole (and greater southern) cooking is probably the most "American" cuisine there is, with all the complications that entails- I dunno that the author would bother to get much more into those details. Semi-related note- somewhat surprisingly, I saw that one of the official Chinese translations (traditional characters) was NOT a phonetic one, but rather a descriptive noun. Considering even the origin of the name is of some minor contention (tho not as much as gumbo), maybe better left alone =D

 

[motokare]

certainly shows how permeable and difficult it is to define- trying to pin it down to current nation states certainly is very modern, rather than cultural/imperial spheres (and even then, I know of some bretons who are insulted to be identified as french), or civilization. Particularly in this case, cajun/creole (and greater southern) cooking is probably the most "American" cuisine there is, with all the complications that entails- I dunno that the author would bother to get much more into those details. Semi-related note- somewhat surprisingly, I saw that one of the official Chinese translations (traditional characters) was NOT a phonetic one, but rather a descriptive noun. Considering even the origin of the name is of some minor contention (tho not as much as gumbo), maybe better left alone =D

You mean 什錦飯? Its about as generic as can be since in Chinese we call so many things 什錦飯 (incld Japanese's takikomi gohan) 什錦 just means assorted ingredients and it gets reduced further to just 什飯 (zaap fan) to refers to Economy Rice (經濟飯)

 

[Mweeheehee]

You mean 什錦飯? Its about as generic as can be since in Chinese we call so many things 什錦飯 (incld Japanese's takikomi gohan) 什錦 just means assorted ingredients and it gets reduced further to just 什飯 (zaap fan) to refers to Economy Rice (經濟飯)

oh, ya, no I know why it's called that- it's more about it being a little unconventional- jambalaya being proper name/noun, so I was surprised it wasn't called something like 酱布莱雅 or some such, with a parenthetical explanation afterwards. It made for an odder juxtaposition since it wasn't explained at all in the magazine release, but "cajun" is printed in english multiple times in that whole explanation panel in page after in the tankobon. Vagaries of translation abound =D

 

[motokare]

oh, ya, no I know why it's called that- it's more about it being a little unconventional- jambalaya being proper name/noun, so I was surprised it wasn't called something like 酱布莱雅 or some such, with a parenthetical explanation afterwards. It made for an odder juxtaposition since it wasn't explained at all in the magazine release, but "cajun" is printed in english multiple times in that whole explanation panel in page after in the tankobon. Vagaries of translation abound =D

Ah but it does gets called something like 詹巴 (?) these days. But funny thing is if you google 什錦飯 it will give you result for jambalaya. But semantic naming isnt restricted to jambalaya alone, i mean paella is 海鮮飯 and risotto is 燴飯

 

[Mweeheehee]

Ah but it does gets called something like 詹巴 (?) these days. But funny thing is if you google 什錦飯 it will give you result for jambalaya. But semantic naming isnt restricted to jambalaya alone, i mean paella is 海鮮飯 and risotto is 燴飯

yea, I mean, I'm not knocking it- it's always going to be inconsistent so you get used to it (example is the official translations of Himmel from Frieren- I don't remember exactly, but there were pretty distinct differences between traditional vs simplified in the official amazon or netflix subs). But it does get more difficult when reading translations from Japanese food words- a translation I read had isobeage using the same kanji/hanzi 矶边, like "wut?" It can be jarring to read if you don't know it's meant to be a specific Japanese place or word names =P Off the cuff food translations can get extra funny in certain instances- once on a flight had a western flight attendant (fluent-"ish" in Mandarin), describe the meal (lasagna) as 意大利面饼, at which I chuckled quite a bit- I mean, it's not totally wrong, but it also ain't right =D

 

[motokare]

yea, I mean, I'm not knocking it- it's always going to be inconsistent so you get used to it (example is the official translations of Himmel from Frieren- I don't remember exactly, but there were pretty distinct differences between traditional vs simplified in the official amazon or netflix subs). But it does get more difficult when reading translations from Japanese food words- a translation I read had isobeage using the same kanji/hanzi 矶边, like "wut?" It can be jarring to read if you don't know it's meant to be a specific Japanese place or word names =P Off the cuff food translations can get extra funny in certain instances- once on a flight had a western flight attendant (fluent-"ish" in Mandarin), describe the meal (lasagna) as 意大利面饼, at which I chuckled quite a bit- I mean, it's not totally wrong, but it also ain't right =D

I think that's because traditional chinese and simplified chinese targets very different audience. Mandarin, like English varies from region to region. Even if you're really fluent or is your mother tongue lol, it can sound like a foreign language at times imo (and not just the core mandarin, even the same chinese dialects varies from region to region). that definitely happens a lot for me esp since I don't really engage or keep up with chinese media or literature. Language is really something that you need to constantly use to keep even if its the mother tongue haha

But using your example of isobe-age as example, is a reason why a lot of times I dislike chinese translations of Japanese manga. I find a lot of times the translation is very lazy and literal. Could've done much better to convey the meaning and some don't even quite makes sense and just rely on the readers ikykyk sense imo to plow through.