Get in my belly, Gumbo

In an effort to expand our rudimentary culinary skills, Christina and I attended a cooking class unveiling the secrets behind New Orleans-style cooking. We spent the afternoon in La Cocina’s kitchen stewing up Chicken and Andouille Sausage Gumbo with Rice and Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce – and barely made it out of there with our buttons intact because we ate so much! The class was part of the “Grandfather Workshop”, a series of cooking classes sponsored by Slow Food SF that highlights traditional recipes or methods passed on from generation to generation.

Our instructor, Dave, grew up in New Orleans and spent the better part of his childhood in the kitchen with his mom and sisters whipping up gumbo. Needless to say, he had all kinds of tips up his sleeve on how to make this delicious (and almost one pot) meal:

• Plan on setting aside the afternoon to make gumbo. It’s a labor of love that requires a lot of stirring and stewing…but sooo worth it!
• Roux can make or break your gumbo. If you over or under cook it – I hate to break it to you, folks – but you have to start over.
• The secret to knowing when roux is ready is the color. When it looks like the color of peanut butter, you’ve reached the half-way point. When it looks like milk chocolate, it’s time to add your vegetables and other ingredients.

• Timing is also crucial during the gumbo-making process. Be sure to have all of your vegetables and protein prepped before you begin making the roux so that you can dump ingredients in at a moment’s notice.

• Gumbo is thickened with either okra or filé powder, but not both. Filé powder* is dried, ground sassafras leaves used as a seasoning and thickener; it’s best used with meat-based gumbos, while okra pairs well with seafood versions.

• Wait to add filé powder until the very end. It loses it’s thickening power if you add it too soon.
• While gumbo recipes certainly vary, most New Orleans start out with the “holy trinity” of onions, garlic and green bell peppers. These three ingredients are at the core of many traditional creole dishes, similar to mirepoix (onions, celery and carrots) in French cooking.

• If you can find it, serve your gumbo with “popcorn” rice, which is what it smells like when you cook it. Long-grain white rice or brown rice work fine.
• An ice-cold beer is a lovely accompaniment to gumbo. You need something to cut the heat!

After learning the basics of gumbo-making, Christina and I started brainstorming ways we could mix things up in our own kitchens like using brown rice and whole wheat flour instead of white rice and bleached flour. We’re definitely going to try to make some turkey gumbo using leftovers from Thanksgiving as well, so stay tuned for our recipe in a few weeks!

If you’re just dying to make gumbo in the meantime, Emeril’s recipe looks very similar to the traditional one we made in class.

*Dave swears by Pensy’s filé powder.

Tagged as: bread pudding, file powder, gumbo, La Cocina, New Orleans, okra, sausage