Shrimp gumbo, chicken, chicken and sausage, and even crawfish gumbo are on my very favorites list.
There are those people who make gumbo different ways. There are possibly millions of ways to cook a gumbo, but only a true Cajun can tell you what is a real gumbo.
To me, if a gumbo does not have okra then it isn't a gumbo, this for the primary reason that the Cajun French word gumbo used in french means okra. An article on Wikipedia attributes to that fact and the other ingredients which I will mention here which also include file gumbo. Filé gumbo or powder introduced to the Cajuns by the Choctaw Indians. You will also note that it references to the holy trinity (the must have in a gumbo to make it a gumbo, according to some Cajuns. But please note that does not include tomatoes but everyone, especially Cajuns, feel that they must make a gumbo their own and thereby include certain ingredients which delight their taste buds. Doing that will make the gumbo their own. Example: In this Landry family a gumbo is not a gumbo without okara and filé. It is a must have, and everyone in the family looks forward to those ingredients.
There are those few people, but quite a few around the New Orleans area, that make a clear gumbo. My grandmother called it un gumbo clair. She always made a gumbo with a roux, however there were those occassions when she would make a clear gumbo. For example when my great aunt Maude would come down with her husband, nonc Walter she would make a clear gumbo. She would tell me, "Je vas faire un gumbo clair aujourd'hui, ta taunte maude et ton nonc Walter reviens nous voir." There were also the times that she would tell me, "Taunte Mattie et Nonc Coon viens nous voir aprés midi, je vas leur faire un bon gumbo clair, c'est ça qu'ills aimaient. Moi, j'aime mieux le gumbo avec un roux, she would say."
My grandmother always cooked some of my most favorite things. She was a great cook, she never cooked anything I did not like. I can also say the same about my dear wife. She is an excellent cook, makes an excellent gumbo, but now the big "C" is holding her back. Thereby I cook on occasion and , although I am not as great a cook as my wife, I am a good cook and do make a good gumbo. I do better than the one in the picture. The okra are much too green to my liking, I always good the okra until they start to brown and start breaking down. I also cook the okra in a separate pot being that I cook the roux in a black cast iron pot.
- Thereby: cook the roux first, cook it to your liking, you tone of darkness
- Put the okra to cook at the same time the roux starts cooking. Put it on medium heat and take a small, but very short break from the roux to stir the okra every now and then.
- Also , put about five cups of rice to cook, if you have a large family. five cups of rice will usually feed about 6 or 7 cajuns.
- Once the okra is tender and starting to brown, mix in with the roux. The heat of the roux will finish cooking the okra. At this point you can begin adding water to get the roux to your desired consistency.
- Clean the pot you used for the okra, put the shrimp, or chicken , etc., to cook with onions, celery (optional), and bell peppers. Note: A creole gumbo will sometimes contain tomatoes. A Cajun gumbo usually does not, but that depends on your preferences . Cook on medium heat until onions get clear and tender. Add to the roux. set to medium heat, and get ready to season. What I usually do is add some salt to the palm of my hand, I cup my hand and add salt just until the center of the cupped palm (the indention) is slightly covered with salt. I sometimes add a little black pepper. I do not add cayenne or any hot seasoning. All of those seasonings are on the center of the table for whoever wants to add them to their meal. Don't forget to stir about every 10 minutes or so.
- Cook for about 70 minutes, add water if necessary. Taste the gumbo and add salt if needed. Do not over salt, remember that the rice will also have some salt. Cook another 40 minutes and taste again, if the heavy roux taste is gone it is ready to serve. Before serving, put about one tablespoon of gumbo filé in the palm of your hand, same as you did with the salt and spread it out evenly over the gumbo, just before serving. You can do this either in the pot or in the serving dish.
- Enjoy!
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