I was recently asked by my daughter's future MIL to cook one for 150 people for the "Honey-do" shower. I told her no way. I've never cooked a real jambalaya in which you cook the rice in it. Occasionally we cook meat with gravy and some rice in a rice cooker then then mix. I told her a meal for 150 people wasn't the time for me to start learning. I did copy/paste the "Jambalaya Calculator" from Tiger Droppings that some guy put together. Pretty impressive.
That's the only way I've ever done it or seen it done. I had never heard of cooking the rice separately.
You mix it all up so what's the difference? A hot dog is a hot dog regardless of whether you eat it on plain bread; with mayo, mustard and ketchup; or bar-b-que sauce. Or that a gumbo is not a gumbo if you don't make the roux from scratch.
Jambalaya first began with people taking left overs and mixing it with rice not to have to throw it so, yeah. I understand the rice absorbs flavor when it's cooked in the gravy but it's not THAT much different, except for people who live in Gonzales and that's their stage in life. I don't expect to change anyone's mind on this though. Same thing with spaghetti. Cook it separate or mix it after, still spaghetti, yes?
You are a culinary heathen. I'm not from Gonzales but I know that rice absorbing flavor from the meat while cooking can make the difference between great jambalaya and a plate of goop. On the other hand I always cook the pasta separately from the sauce if I'm cooking spaghetti. Not so when I cook something like fettuccine with a white sauce with shrimp or crawfish.
