Like Louisiana cuisine itself, gumbo is all about mixing, matching, blending, and creating something glorious from sundry elements. A staple of kitchens in New Orleans as well as in the Cajun countryside, its cooking canon has only a few rules: It should contain rice (cooked separately and added after the soup itself is made); it should start with a roux made of flour and fat (preferably lard); and it must be thickened as it cooks, using either okra or filé powder. Most gumbos are loaded with ingredients and radiantly spiced, and while virtually no element is taboo, the most commonly encountered varieties are seafood gumbo, made with crawfish, shrimp, crab, and/or oysters, and sausage gumbo, which almost always includes duck or chicken as well. During Lent, it is not uncommon to come across meatless gumbo z’herbes, featuring varieties of greens.
Bozo’s gumbo, Metarie, Louisiana.
Rocky and Carlo’s seafood gumbo, Chalmette, Louisiana.
The soup’s diverse roots are French (like bouillabaisse), Spanish (the inclusion of celery, onions, and peppers is basically sofrito), and Choctaw Indian (filé powder is ground sassafras leaves). Its name is derived from the African Bantu word kingombo, which means “okra.” After Hank Williams Sr. recorded the song Jambalaya in 1952, which contains the line, “Jambalaya, crawfish pie, and filé gumbo,” Cajuns translated the lyrics and made it an anthem of south Louisiana country folk. They sing, “Jambalaya, des tartes d’ecreuvisse, file gombo . . .”