“Jambalaya Girl (Kristen Preau Moore) by Cook Me Somethin’ Mister is a family and women owned business that brings an authentic taste of New Orleans to the world with easy to prepare food products, inspired by Jambalaya Girl's family recipes. Drawing from her family’s upbringing in the New Orleans cooking scene and her creation of a nationwide tailgating fundraiser following Hurricane Katrina, owner Kristen Preau “Jambalaya Girl” created Cook Me Somethin’ Mister initially from her Dad’s jambalaya recipe. All products are now proudly made in New Orleans with the finest ingredients and are specially blended by Chef Paul Prudhomme's Magic Seasoning Blends.” We’re joined by the Jambalaya Girl herself, Kristen Preau, to cook up all the good eating that is Jambalaya Girl food products from New Orleans.
From New Orleans Gambit Weekly, Top 40 Under 40 Cover Story: "Known as the "Jambalaya Girl," Kristen Preau says she was given the title while stirring her father's cast-iron pot full of jambalaya at her brother's sporting events . . . Preau came up with the concept for Cook Me Somethin' Mister while traveling across the country to raise money for New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. She raised $100,000 for her hometown by serving jambalaya made from her father's recipe at 11 college tailgates. It made her realize that people donated not only because they loved New Orleans, but they also loved the jambalaya."
“Jambalaya Girl’s Dad, Paul, used to specially manufacture outdoor cookers for some of the top chefs in New Orleans and he always cooked classic New Orleans recipes, like Jambalaya Girl’s jambalaya, to showcase his cooking equipment. Paul manufactured the gas burner that the late Chef Paul Prudhomme used to prepare his famous Blackened Red Fish recipe. The burner was featured in Chef Paul’s mail order catalog and is pictured in his first cookbook, Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen. (1984)”
“The Preau family cooked some of the first pots of Jambalaya to be served during the early years of French Quarter Fest. Fun fact: Cook Me Somethin’ Mister still uses the same 40- gallon cast iron pot that was used to cook at the very first French Quarter Fest in 1983. That’s one well- seasoned pot!”
The Jambalaya Girl product line is available on Kristen’s Website as well as on Amazon.
This is Anne-Marie Panerinkin, Culture OC's food columnist. You can follow me online at cultureoc.org. When I want the best in food and dining news outside of Orange County, of course, I tune into the SoCal Restaurant Show on AMA 30 K-L-A-A. And welcome back, it is The SoCal Restaurant Show. And happily, we're here with you every Saturday morning from 10 AM until 12 noon, right here on AMA 30 K-L-A-A-A, the home of Angels Baseball 2024. And you can also catch us on the AMA 30 Angels app. And the Angels are at home tonight playing Seattle. I'm Andy Harris, the executive producer and co-host to the show. And we're enthusiasticly presented each and every week by Melissa's World Variety Produce and West Coast Prime Meats. A couple of weeks ago, I was lucky enough to be in New Orleans as the guest of New Orleans and Company and the mentor foundation to cover Team USA 2025, who are on the road to Lyon for the Bocustor, the America's Competition. And while I was at one of the events, just very coincidentally, I ran into a very fun New Orleans personality. Her nickname is the Jambalaya Girl. She does New Orleans food products. I heard the story and definitely wanted to get her on the show. So with that is background, it is a pleasure to welcome Kristin Pro, the Jambalaya Girl to the SoCal Restaurant Show. Kristin, good morning, but actually done your direction. Good afternoon. That's right. Greetings from New Orleans. Andy, it's so good to hear your voice again. And you could be here with me this afternoon. I am seasoning cast iron pots, getting ready to take them out to the still way for a road race tomorrow morning. I love it. Now, talking about cast iron pots, Kristin, you still use the original cast iron pot that you were cooking up Jambalaya for more than a few years ago. Is it the French Quarter Festival? Is that what it's called? Right. The very first French Quarter Festival, just when it was in Jackson Square in the French Quarter. My dad and Joe Cahn, who founded the New Orleans School of Cooking, had the food booth for Jambalaya. And I was probably maybe two years old. And just big enough to be out there and stand next to the cast iron pot. And that thing is a 40 gallon cast iron kettle that we still have today. I mean, you could fit in it. It's like a whole page in hot tub. But it is well seasoned. And I'm so grateful that I still get to cook in that pie at different events across the state, too. Well, Kristin, you're a lot of fun. Let me back up a little bit, because I was mentioning in the lead-in. So the night I arrived in New Orleans, New Orleans and Company staged a welcome reception for the people that were there attending the America's competition. It started out next door to where I met you at an event space called The Mansion. But it was at Blaine Craines or Mardi Gras World. Yeah, thank you. Mardi Gras World, which is the float warehouse for really all the floats that are used in Mardi Gras and a lot of other events. And Blaine Kern is very well known for that. And then next door is this event facility called The Mansion. Because once you get inside of it, inside is the facade of an anti-bellum mansion. So some people I bumped into that were locals, as I was wandering around some of the food stations, they said, you got to go see the Jambalaya girl and see what she's doing. And so I looked at them and said, what are you talking about? And they said, well, just go there and you'll see. So there you were in all your glory. And what you do in partnership sometimes with New Orleans and Company for these very special events is you have a very special sized package of your Jambalaya mix. But tell us, Kristen, if you will, how you personalize that for the guests because then it becomes the ultimate souvenir to take home from New Orleans. Because you know, Kristen, those bignets don't travel well. [LAUGHS] Yes, no, I love this idea of that. But it really came to light. That Bocuse event with the World of the Company, that was the first time we debuted this. So you really got the sneak peek at it. But I look at it as you want to have a classic souvenir. And the fact that my home recipes are going home with people, with these classic Jambalaya and Dumbo dishes. But not just as the mix. I partnered with a photo booth experience company. And instead of getting your cute photo with your group of friends and having them sign it, or put it on, you know, put it on the little knick-knack piece, we actually put your picture, which I believe you have one. I did believe me. That is the ultimate souvenir. You have your own Jambalaya from New Orleans with your picture on it. So you got it looking good while you're cooking good. I love that you were able to take that home. No, no, it's great. And I also was lucky enough to get one with your smiling face on it. Because, Kristen, you are very memorable and easy to recognize. Our radio listeners have to visualize this. But you have very distinctive earrings. You want to share that with us? Ah, yes. I have fork earrings because you can trust that I got some good food. So that was something that came to be. I, years ago, when the Saints went to Super Bowl, there was, of course, a parade to celebrate it in New Orleans. And my fellow Saints fan Whistle Monster encouraged me to add a little accessories to my outfit as the Jambalaya girl. So I went and got some plastic forks and broke them in half and made earrings out of it. And they were like in the Saints' gold color. But that stuck, thankfully, not the cast iron caught on my head. It really had that timing. 2010 is when I started my-- it's right when I started my company. The same month, the Saints went to Super Bowl. Same week I met my husband. It was pretty magical. But yes, that became the emblem of my brand. There's a caricature of me on my packaging of a girl with fork earrings. A la Jambalaya girl. Really cute. Now, there's a serious side to how you embarked on this great adventure. Packaging, initially, the Jambalaya, give us just a little bit of a background before we take our top of the hour break and pick it up. In terms of where your original recipe from Jambalaya came, and what you did is an aftermath after Hurricane Katrina, which really, unfortunately, just decimated New Orleans. Thank god it's bounced back. But boy, not a great time. We are resilient. We are resilient, man. And this is a testament to-- I actually had a testament this week. A customer in Houston, who, unfortunately, they're going through the aftermath of Hurricane Barrel, they sent me the sweetest note in picture. They sent me a picture of cooking Jambalaya by rechargeable LED lights. And it really brought me back to my origin story of wanting to do something to help. And truly, my whole life is why I even have to make me a Jambalaya girl, as my family, would always cook Jambalaya to help, whether it's a school event, a community event, after a hurricane. And after Katrina, I traveled the country. I went to different colleges across the country, served Jambalaya. It really spoke to my passion, because I love to promote New Orleans. And everybody wanted to come up and say, how much I love this city and the food. And then they tried my Jambalaya. And it was that aha moment for me, that this is something that I can bring back to people all over the country and all over the world, that created that authentic flavor. But yes, we ended up traveling with a cast iron pot, raised over $100,000 just by serving that dish. And to me, that really made me focus on trying to create that experience into something. And then in 2010, I was able to reconnect with Chef Paul Perdome. And he has a facility here in New Orleans, Magic Seasoning Lens, I'd love to share more about that, especially being Chef Paul's birthday today. That I now make all my products in New Orleans at Chef Paul's facility too. And for folks that are not familiar with the history of chefs and celebrity chefs in New Orleans, the late Chef Paul was one of the first chefs at Commander's Palace, really put them on the map. I never had the privilege of meeting the man, but new many people who knew Chef Paul well. And just a very generous, big-hearted gentleman that left us way too soon. But the nice thing is, is that his seasoning company that you just referred to, Paul Perdome's Magic Seasoning Lens, still exists. His seasonings are in a lot of restaurant kitchens around the country, and they have an excellent product. And of course, that's a living tribute to Chef Paul. Absolutely. You said it perfectly with generosity. He has put so many foodies and chefs and people in the industry in business, myself included, given me the opportunity to use this facility. But another one I love to mention is Frank Bryson, too. He trained under Chef in his kitchen, and he has his Bryson's restaurant in New Orleans. And Chef even gave him money to start his restaurant. So he really believed in the culinary industry here. And he's a legend. I love to celebrate him, along with my brand. You know, again, all very important names in the history of the culinary arts in New Orleans. Kristen, before we pause for our top of the hour break, the easiest way-- excuse me-- to get your line of food products is via your website. Please give us that information, and we're going to pick up the conversation on the other side. Great. It's jimbalayagirl.com, and you can also find my products on Amazon Prime, too. And for our listeners that are not familiar, it's J-A-M-B-A-L-A-Y-A. You know, might be a little foreign to some folks. We are talking with the jambalaya girl herself, Christian Pro. Her company in New Orleans is called Cook Me Something Mr. Really a Family Operation. Her jambalaya recipe came from her father. The gumbal recipe from her mother. We'll pick up the conversation on the other side. It is the SoCal restaurant show we're proudly presented by Melissa's World Variety Produce and West Coast Prime Meats. We'll be right back. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] (upbeat music)
