Trump puts tomatoes in his jambalaya

Perhaps this belongs on the Poli board, but Pres Trump just had his first state dinner with the head honcho from France and a contingent from Louisiana.

"Jambalaya" was on the menu.

quote:

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The "jambalaya" served alongside lamb by White House chefs at Tuesday night's state dinner for French President Emmanuel Macron didn't resemble what they serve down in Louisiana, guests told The Advocate.

Missing were the hunks of sausage or chicken and the seafood mixed in with the rice, with one source telling The Advocate the "jambalaya" appeared to be "just rice, nothing else" and another calling it "maybe a rice pilaf."

In fact, the dish had very finely chopped tasso ham and andouille sausage, cooked in butter with the "holy trinity" of celery, onions and peppers as well as tomatoes and garlic, a spokeswoman for first lady Melania Trump told The Advocate Thursday.

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The inclusion of tomatoes made the dish, at least in theory, a "red" jambalaya, a regional version more popular in New Orleans. In Cajun country, most prefer to cook up a "brown" version that leaves out the tomatoes, and the regional distinctions can evoke strong feelings among south Louisiana culinary partisans.

But Louisianans who ate the jambalaya at the White House on Tuesday night said it wasn't much of either — and didn't really resemble a jambalaya at all, even if all the ingredients were there.

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The BR Advocate

Too bad they didn't serve "gumbo". That would be even more entertaining.