Mardi Gras is always an exciting time of year in New Orleans. The official start of the Mardi Gras season is marked by Epiphany, January 6 and ends on Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of lent. New Orleans gumbo is almost synonymous with Mardi Gras. There are probably as many recipes for gumbo as there are cooks and families tend to guard their gumbo secrets carefully. It would be considered scandalous indeed if you were to baldly ask a gumbo cook for their recipe.
New Orleans gumbo, cooked up in a mix of French, Caribbean, African American and Native American traditions and ingredients, is a variation on the European French bouillabaisse. Traditional ingredients of the French dish, not found in the New World, were substituted with ingredients of a similar nature. Lo and behold, a new culinary classic was born.
On a trip to New Orleans during Mardi Gras, many years ago, I was fortunate enough to taste more than a few bowls of this incomparable soup. My palate became entranced by this unique concoction, to the extent that I spent several years tracking down every gumbo recipe I could find, with multiple experiments that did not even approach a recreation of that particular taste. Even fancy restaurants utterly failed to serve up what I knew to be gumbo. After dozens of experiments and gleanings of secret tidbits of the gumbo culture, I finally succeeded. New Orleans gumbo is a little slice of culinary heaven which I'd like to share with you.
This recipe serves up 12 generous portions. If you don't think you need so much, believe me, it will be consumed, if not the first day, then surely by the second.
Here are the ingredients for our New Orleans gumbo. It should be noted that gumbo uses either okra or sassafras (gumbo file) as the thickener, but not both. This recipe calls for sassafras.
¾ - 1 cup of white flour and an equal amount of vegetable oil (for the roux)
3 medium yellow onions, diced
1 medium bunch of celery, diced (save the leaves for the pot, if you wish)
4 sweet bell peppers, all green, or a mix of green, red, yellow and orange)
The three veggies, listed above, are known in gumbo culture, perhaps irreverently, as 'the Holy Trinity'. Without these, it's not gumbo.
8 cups of stock, which can be all chicken, or a mix of chicken, clam juice or broth from cooking shrimp shells. A mixed stock delivers a more complex flavor.
1 pound of shrimp, peeled and deveined (save the shells to make a broth on the side to add to the pot)
2 15-ounce cans of clams
½ pound of crab meat
1 pound craw fish (you can find these in the seafood freezer section)
For seasonings, you'll need 1 tablespoon of finely minced fresh garlic, 1 bay leaf, 1 ½ teaspoons of thyme, 1 tablespoon of sassafras and a bit of cayenne. Cayenne comes in a variety of heat 'settings', from mildly spicy to blow your socks off, so it's hard to say exactly how much to use. Just remember, once it's in the pot, it's there to stay. Add say, a half teaspoon, stir and taste. Repeat until you've got it right.
Now, your New Orleans gumbo should be a matter of assembly. Prep all of your veggies and set them in a large bowl until the roux is done. Prepare your seafood, setting aside in a separate container. Drain off juices from fish and shrimp shell broth in a container that will hold 8 cups total. If you're using chicken stock, get that in there too.
Now you're ready to cook your New Orleans gumbo, beginning with the roux.
In a large, heavy stockpot, combine the oil and flour over low heat. Any New Orleans gumbo cook will tell you that the success or failure of the gumbo depends on a properly prepared roux. If cooked over too high a heat, or not constantly monitored with continual whisking, the roux will burn, with an unpleasant scent that tells you it's time to start over. It can easily take 20 minutes of whisking to bring the roux to the right color - a rich caramel tending towards mahogany - and scent - the roux should have a pleasant, nutty scent.
When the color and scent are right, immediately toss the Holy Trinity into the roux, using a slotted spoon to mix all quickly and thoroughly. Watch out for spatters! The hot roux serves to caramelize the veggies to a certain degree, which also adds a layer of complexity to your New Orleans gumbo.
Now add your 8 cups of broth to the pot, but slowly, perhaps a cup or two at a time. Add the bay leaf, garlic and thyme and allow those flavors to marry in the pot for at least one to two hours.
Add your seafood and 2 teaspoons of salt, to taste, just one half hour before serving. When the seafood's been in the pot for twenty minutes, stir again and taste. Add your cayenne - cautiously, as described above, stirring and tasting. When you've got the degree of spice that suits your New Orleans gumbo, sprinkle the 1 tablespoon of sassafras (gumbo file) over the surface and carefully work it through the pot.
You're ready to eat! While New Orleans gumbo is traditionally served in a soup bowl over cooked white rice, some people enjoy it without the rice. If you make your gumbo a day ahead of serving, it's even more delicious and complex.
New Orleans gumbo, cooked up in a mix of French, Caribbean, African American and Native American traditions and ingredients, is a variation on the European French bouillabaisse. Traditional ingredients of the French dish, not found in the New World, were substituted with ingredients of a similar nature. Lo and behold, a new culinary classic was born.
On a trip to New Orleans during Mardi Gras, many years ago, I was fortunate enough to taste more than a few bowls of this incomparable soup. My palate became entranced by this unique concoction, to the extent that I spent several years tracking down every gumbo recipe I could find, with multiple experiments that did not even approach a recreation of that particular taste. Even fancy restaurants utterly failed to serve up what I knew to be gumbo. After dozens of experiments and gleanings of secret tidbits of the gumbo culture, I finally succeeded. New Orleans gumbo is a little slice of culinary heaven which I'd like to share with you.
This recipe serves up 12 generous portions. If you don't think you need so much, believe me, it will be consumed, if not the first day, then surely by the second.
Here are the ingredients for our New Orleans gumbo. It should be noted that gumbo uses either okra or sassafras (gumbo file) as the thickener, but not both. This recipe calls for sassafras.
¾ - 1 cup of white flour and an equal amount of vegetable oil (for the roux)
3 medium yellow onions, diced
1 medium bunch of celery, diced (save the leaves for the pot, if you wish)
4 sweet bell peppers, all green, or a mix of green, red, yellow and orange)
The three veggies, listed above, are known in gumbo culture, perhaps irreverently, as 'the Holy Trinity'. Without these, it's not gumbo.
8 cups of stock, which can be all chicken, or a mix of chicken, clam juice or broth from cooking shrimp shells. A mixed stock delivers a more complex flavor.
1 pound of shrimp, peeled and deveined (save the shells to make a broth on the side to add to the pot)
2 15-ounce cans of clams
½ pound of crab meat
1 pound craw fish (you can find these in the seafood freezer section)
For seasonings, you'll need 1 tablespoon of finely minced fresh garlic, 1 bay leaf, 1 ½ teaspoons of thyme, 1 tablespoon of sassafras and a bit of cayenne. Cayenne comes in a variety of heat 'settings', from mildly spicy to blow your socks off, so it's hard to say exactly how much to use. Just remember, once it's in the pot, it's there to stay. Add say, a half teaspoon, stir and taste. Repeat until you've got it right.
Now, your New Orleans gumbo should be a matter of assembly. Prep all of your veggies and set them in a large bowl until the roux is done. Prepare your seafood, setting aside in a separate container. Drain off juices from fish and shrimp shell broth in a container that will hold 8 cups total. If you're using chicken stock, get that in there too.
Now you're ready to cook your New Orleans gumbo, beginning with the roux.
In a large, heavy stockpot, combine the oil and flour over low heat. Any New Orleans gumbo cook will tell you that the success or failure of the gumbo depends on a properly prepared roux. If cooked over too high a heat, or not constantly monitored with continual whisking, the roux will burn, with an unpleasant scent that tells you it's time to start over. It can easily take 20 minutes of whisking to bring the roux to the right color - a rich caramel tending towards mahogany - and scent - the roux should have a pleasant, nutty scent.
When the color and scent are right, immediately toss the Holy Trinity into the roux, using a slotted spoon to mix all quickly and thoroughly. Watch out for spatters! The hot roux serves to caramelize the veggies to a certain degree, which also adds a layer of complexity to your New Orleans gumbo.
Now add your 8 cups of broth to the pot, but slowly, perhaps a cup or two at a time. Add the bay leaf, garlic and thyme and allow those flavors to marry in the pot for at least one to two hours.
Add your seafood and 2 teaspoons of salt, to taste, just one half hour before serving. When the seafood's been in the pot for twenty minutes, stir again and taste. Add your cayenne - cautiously, as described above, stirring and tasting. When you've got the degree of spice that suits your New Orleans gumbo, sprinkle the 1 tablespoon of sassafras (gumbo file) over the surface and carefully work it through the pot.
You're ready to eat! While New Orleans gumbo is traditionally served in a soup bowl over cooked white rice, some people enjoy it without the rice. If you make your gumbo a day ahead of serving, it's even more delicious and complex.
And there you have it. A authentic New Orleans gumbo recipe you'll want to serve again and again.
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