Gumbo

Ingredients

Roux

• 250 mloil
• 250 gplain flour

Trinity

• 2onions, chopped
• 2sweet peppers, chopped
• 4celery stalks, chopped
• 6 clovesgarlic, chopped

Pot

• 2 litresstock
• 2bay leaves
• 2 tspdried thyme
• 1 tspcayenne
• 2 tsppaprika
• salt
• black pepper

Meat and seafood

• 1 kgchicken thighs, or 750 g shrimp and 500 g crab
• 500 gandouille sausage, sliced

Thickener

• 400 gokra, sliced, or 1 tbsp filé powder

To finish

• spring onion and parsley, chopped
• rice

Directions

1. Make the roux first, and give it your whole attention for the next forty-five minutes.
2. Heat the oil in a heavy pot, whisk in the flour, and stir without stopping over a medium-low heat. Do not stop stirring and do not walk away.
3. Cook for 10 minutes until softened, then add the garlic and the dry spices. Add the hot stock a ladleful at a time, whisking each one in fully before the next.
4. Add it gradually. Poured in all at once it seizes the roux into lumps that never smooth out again. Add the bay and thyme, bring to a bare simmer, and cook uncovered for an hour, skimming the oil that rises.
5. Skim it off. A properly made gumbo throws a slick of oil, and it should be lifted away rather than stirred back in.
6. Brown the sausage separately, then add it with the chicken and simmer for another 45 minutes. If you are using okra, fry it separately in a dry pan until the slime has cooked off, then add it for the last 20 minutes.
7. Scatter over the spring onion and parsley, and serve with the rice in the bowl first and the gumbo ladled around it.

Technique

• Filé powder is ground sassafras leaf and is the Choctaw contribution to the dish.
• Andouille here is the Louisiana smoked pork sausage, not the French tripe sausage of the same name.
• It is better on the second day, and better still on the third.
• Creole gumbo often takes tomato and Cajun gumbo does not, which is one of the reliable ways to tell them apart.

Substitutions

• Kielbasa or any coarse smoked sausage in place of andouille.
• Frozen sliced okra, which works perfectly well.

Variations

• Gumbo z’herbes, the green Lenten version made with seven greens.
• Creole gumbo, with tomato.
• Duck and oyster gumbo, the cold-weather version.

History

A thick stew or soup, most often thickened using either okra, a vegetable brought to Louisiana through the transatlantic slave trade from West Africa, or filé powder, ground sassafras leaves used by the region’s Indigenous Choctaw people well before European colonization, reflecting gumbo’s genuinely layered West African, French, Spanish and Indigenous American origins rather than any single source. Its name is generally traced to a West African word for okra, ki ngombo, directly connecting the dish’s naming to its West African culinary roots even in versions that use filé rather than okra as the thickener. Gumbo varies enormously by household and region within Louisiana, with roux darkness, specific protein choices and thickening method all subject to genuine, long-running local debate over the correct approach.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gumbo?

Gumbo is a soup & stew from United States: louisiana roux-based stew with okra, sausage, and seafood. A thick stew or soup, most often thickened using either okra, a vegetable brought to Louisiana through the transatlantic slave trade from West Africa, or filé powder, ground sassafras leaves used by the region’s Indigenous Choctaw people well before European colonization, reflecting gumbo’s genuinely layered West African, French, Spanish and Indigenous American origins rather than any single source. Its name is generally traced to a West African word for okra, ki ngombo, directly connecting the dish’s naming to its West African culinary roots even in versions that use filé rather than okra as the thickener. Gumbo varies enormously by household and region within Louisiana, with roux darkness, specific protein choices and thickening method all subject to genuine, long-running local debate over the correct approach.

How long does Gumbo take to make?

Gumbo takes 30 min of preparation and 3 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 8 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Gumbo?

Yes, within limits. Kielbasa or any coarse smoked sausage in place of andouille. Frozen sliced okra, which works perfectly well.

What is the most important thing to get right in Gumbo?

Heat the oil in a heavy pot, whisk in the flour, and stir without stopping over a medium-low heat. Do not stop stirring and do not walk away.