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      <!-- <h1>JKWiki: <small>Gumbo</small></h1> -->
        <p><a href="?HomePage">HomePage</a> :: <a href="?CajunRecipes">CajunRecipes</a> :: Gumbo</p>
<h1><a id="Gumbo"></a>Gumbo</h1>
<p>As I stated in my <a href="?Jambalaya">Jambalaya</a> recipe, everyone has their own way of cooking cajun food. For the most part, I make my gumbo and jambalaya the way my mom taught me to. She got her recipe the same way I got mine, etc.</p>
<h1><a id="Ingredients"></a>Ingredients</h1>
<p>Use the same ingredient list found on the Jambalaya page, except:</p>
<ul>
<li>use twice as much water</li>
<li>small amounts of file&#39; (sassafras leaves), sprinkled after serving</li>
</ul>
<h1><a id="MethodOfCooking"></a>Method of cooking</h1>
<p>Another interesting fact about Mom&#39;s recipe: when she makes jambalaya or gumbo, the only difference between these two recipes is <strong>when she adds the rice</strong>, and how much water she uses. Therefore, all you have to do in order to make my gumbo is follow my [Jambalaya] recipe and <strong>leave out the rice</strong>, and double or triple the amount of water you put into the pot.</p>
<p>But what about the rice? Cook it in a separate pot. Once the gumbo is cooked, you ladle that into your bowl over the rice, then sprinkle perhaps &#188; teaspoon file&#39; (ground sassafras leaves) over the dish. Stir and eat.</p>
<p>Perhaps someone is asking why I haven&#39;t mentioned <em><q>first, you make a roux</q></em>. Mom never made a roux when she made gumbo. Instead she relied on the method of browning onions I described on the [Jambalaya] page to give the dish flavor. Generally a roux will make gumbo thick, but in Mom&#39;s recipe the gumbo ends up very thin (but very tasty). Adding file&#39; thickens the soup a little, by the way.</p>
<p><strong>Note:</strong> I&#39;ve modified my technique somewhat since this page was first created. Take a look at my <a href="?ChickenAndouilleGumbo">ChickenAndouilleGumbo</a> recipe, perhaps you&#39;ll like it better.</p>
<h1><a id="Variations"></a>Variations</h1>
<h3><a id="OrkaGumbo"></a>Orka gumbo</h3>
<p>You can add cut okra to the gumbo if you like, which is really good, especially with shrimp or chicken. However, if you do use okra, you can&#39;t cook it in a cast-iron pot, because the entire soup will turn dishwater-grey. By the way, you&#39;ll have to take a small tomato (diced) and cook it along with the okra, or you&#39;ll end up with a slimy mass that you won&#39;t want to look at, much less eat.</p>
<p>Okra made it to the North America as seeds, <a href="http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/publications/vegetabletravelers/okra.html">carried in the pockets of slaves</a> as they were being shipped over from Africa. In fact, the african word for okra is <em><q>gumbo</q></em>. Today we speak of <q>okra gumbo</q>, which technically is redundant.</p>
<p>Note that if you use okra, you don&#39;t need file&#39;.</p>
<h3><a id="StagingTheVegetables"></a>Staging the vegetables</h3>
<p>Another technique would be to stage the vegetables: browning perhaps only 2/3 of the onions, etc. initially, and adding the rest of them along with the meat, after you&#39;ve made the slurry. Mom never did this, but all of the cajun and creole cooks on public television in New Orleans stress doing this. Perhaps they picked up the staging technique from other culinary traditions.</p>
<p>Another possible source of this staging technique might be from the commmunities west of the Atchafalaya River in Acadiana. Generally these cajuns&#39; traditions diverged from those in Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes, where my family is from. The two main proponents of staging are from Acadiana (Paul Prudhomme, and to a lesser extent John Folse). Could someone from that area confirm this for me? Thanks.</p>
<h3><a id="DarkflavoredMeats"></a>Dark-flavored meats</h3>
<p>Sometimes you&#39;ll see smoked meats added to gumbo, as this adds a darker flavor to the dish. Andouille, tasso, perhaps even ham hocks&#8230; Mom never used these, except maybe a little andouille once in a while. If you&#39;re adding these, you probably want to use a roux as the base of the dish.</p>
<h3><a id="Game"></a>Game</h3>
<p>Certainly you can use game (rabbit, squirrel, venison, duck, etc.) in your gumbo, but these meats will almost certainly require a much longer cooking time.</p>
<p>Also, while not game by any stretch, left-over Thanksgiving turkey makes an excellent gumbo.</p>

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