A SHORT HISTORY OF GUMBO

by Stanley Dry

Of all the dishes in the realm of Louisiana cooking, gumbo is the most famous and, very
likely, the most popular. Gumbo crosses all class barriers, appearing on the tables of the
poor as well as the wealthy. Although ingredients might vary greatly from one cook to
the next, and from one part of the state to another, a steaming bowl of fragrant gumbo
is one of lifes cherished pleasures, as emblematic of Louisiana as chili is of Texas.

Gumbo is often cited as an example of the melting-pot nature of Louisiana cooking since
it includes ingredients and cooking styles from Africa, Spain, France, and Native
American. But trying to sort out the origins and evolution of the dish is highly
speculative. The name derives from a West African word for okra, suggesting that gumbo
was originally made with okra. The use of fil (dried and ground sassafras leaves) was a
contribution of the Choctaws and, possibly, other local tribes. Roux has its origin in
French cuisine, although the roux used in gumbos is much darker than its Gallic cousins.

Today, the gumbos people are most familiar with are seafood gumbo and chicken and
sausage gumbo. But that merely scratches the surface of gumbo cookery, both historical
and contemporary.
Lafcadio Hearns La Cuisine Creole, published in 1885, contains recipes for several
gumbos made from a variety of ingredientschicken, ham, bacon, oysters, crab, shrimp,
and beef, among them. Some of the recipes are made with okra, others with fil.
Although there is no mention of a roux in any of the recipes, some of them call for the
addition of flour or browned flour as a thickener.

The Picayunes Creole Cookbook, published in New Orleans in 1901, includes recipes for
a variety of gumbos. Among the principal ingredients are chicken, ham, oysters, turkey,
wild turkey, squirrel, rabbit, beef, veal, crabs, soft-shell crabs, shrimp, greens, and
cabbage. Some of the gumbos are made with okra, others with fil.

Traditionally, gumbos have been divided into two large categoriesthose thickened with
okra and those thickened with fil. According to some accounts, before the advent of
refrigeration and freezers, okra was the preferred thickening agent for gumbo, while fil
was a substitute used only in the off-season when okra wasnt available. That sounds
plausible, but Ive also come across references to dried okra as an ingredient in 19thcentury gumbos. By drying okra, cooks could use it in their gumbos year round.

In some respects, putting gumbo into either an okra or a fil category is still valid, but for
many cooks, a brown roux is the only thickener, and fil has virtually disappeared from
their recipes. Often roux-based gumbos do incorporate fil, and to my taste they are the
better for it. Fil is used both for thickening and for flavor. It is usually added to a gumbo
just before serving, or at the table. Many okra gumbos also incorporate a brown roux and
some roux-based gumbo contain a small amount of okra, often cooked until it virtually
dissolves.

If all those variations arent confusing enough, there are also raging controversies over
what constitutes a proper gumbo roux. Roux is flour that has been browned in oil or
some other fat. Both cooks and eaters have their own opinions on how dark the roux
should be and how much should be used in a gumbo. There is no agreement on these
matters, as anyone who has tasted gumbos from different cooks can attest.

Seafood gumbos often include crabs, shrimp, and oysters. Shrimp and okra gumbo is a
perennial favorite, as is chicken and okra gumbo. Chicken and sausage gumbo is
extremely popular, and in the households of hunters, ducks and other game birds often
wind up in the gumbo pot. Turkey and sausage gumbos appear frequently during the
Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. An unusual but delicious combination is a gumbo
of steak, smoked sausage, and oysters. Some cooks use ham or tasso in their gumbos,
and others use fresh sausage in place of the smoked variety. The possible combinations
are virtually endless.

One ingredient that does arouse controversy is the tomato. Some cooks use it in their
gumbos, others wouldnt be caught dead putting tomato in theirs. In that respect, the
situation is analogous to jambalaya, where the question of the appropriateness of tomato
is a burning issue. Tomatoes are most often found in okra gumbos, but Ive had rouxbased seafood gumbo that also contained tomato. In my experience, tomatoes in gumbo
(just as in jambalaya) are found more in New Orleans, where wealthy Spanish and French
ancestry could afford them for their dishes. West of New Orleans, tomatoes in dishes are
rare, however, as cultures mixed you can find people west and in New Orleans who
always put tomatoes in their gumbo or who absolutely refuse them.

One point everyone can agree on is that gumbo is always served with rice. Rice is
cooked separately and a scoop of rice is served on top of the bowl of gumbo. However,
that was not always the case. C.C. Robin, a Frenchman who published an account of his
travels in Louisiana in 1803-1805, reported that gumbo was served with corn meal mush.