Louisiana Creole cooking's most complex achievement: the roux must cook for 45 minutes to chocolate-brown before anything else enters the pot. The roux is everything.
About Mardi Gras Cuisine: Gumbo
New Orleans' greatest dish and Louisiana Creole cooking's most complex achievement: a dark, roux-based stew (the roux must be cooked for 45 minutes to a chocolate-brown before anything else is added) with Andouille sausage, chicken or seafood, the holy trinity (celery, onion, green pepper), filé powder and okra; served over white rice; the roux is everything: too light and it is flour gravy, too dark and it is bitter ash.
Louisiana's Greatest
Gumbo is the great dish of Louisiana Creole and Cajun cooking, a deeply flavoured stew of sausage, chicken or seafood served over rice. It is built on a dark roux and the aromatic base of celery, onion and green pepper, thickened with okra or file powder. Rich, smoky and complex, it is the heart of the New Orleans table.
“Gumbo is the great dish of Louisiana Creole and Cajun cooking, a deeply flavoured stew of sausage, chicken or seafood served over rice.”
The Roux
The foundation is the roux, flour cooked in fat and stirred patiently until it turns a deep chocolate brown, a process that can take the better part of an hour. The roux is everything: too light and it is mere flour gravy, too dark and it turns bitter and burnt. Getting it right is the central skill of gumbo.
The Holy Trinity
Onto the roux goes the holy trinity, the Louisiana mix of celery, onion and green pepper that begins nearly every Creole and Cajun dish. It is the aromatic backbone, sweated down to build flavour before the meat and stock are added. Andouille sausage adds smoke, and okra or file thicken the pot.
A Melting Pot
Gumbo tells the story of Louisiana in a single bowl: the French roux, the West African okra, the Choctaw file powder and the smoked sausage of German settlers, all simmered together. It is the edible record of the cultures that built New Orleans. File is stirred in only after cooking, since heat destroys its thickening power.
What to Expect
The gumbo arrives over rice, the broth dark and fragrant with Andouille and filé. The roux's depth is in every spoonful. The okra thickens the broth from within.
Why Try It
Gumbo tells the story of Louisiana: the French roux, the West African okra, the Native American filé and the Andouille sausage from German immigrants are all simultaneously present.
Insider Tips
- Dooky Chase's and Galatoire's in New Orleans serve the most celebrated versions.
- The roux must reach chocolate-brown. This takes 45 minutes of constant stirring.
- Filé powder is added after cooking, not during, heat destroys its thickening property.
