ROUSES_Fall2022_Magazine-low-res

FALL 2022

TEAM ROUX

T H E G UM B O I S S U E

IT’S ALWAYS GUMBOWEATHER

THEY ALL ASKED FOR ROUX

SIMPLY Z’BEST LEAH CHASE’S GUMBOZ’HERBES

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It’s Always GumboWeather

TEAM ROUX

As soon the temperature hits the mid 60s, we start calling it gumbo weather. But when is it really gumbo weather?

We put out some form of gumbo on our hot soup and salad bar at Rouses Markets every day. And it’s our number one seller every day, even on days when there is a heat advisory. Looking at how much gumbo we sell made me think: If we eat gumbo year-round, why don’t more of us make it year-round? You don’t even have to stand over a hot stove to cook it… I made a chicken & sausage gumbo for this issue in June, in the middle of an awful heat wave. It was a weeknight, so I used our Down-Home Gumbo Mix, which is a dry roux with seasonings already blended in — it really cuts down on the cooking time in a steamy summer kitchen. On weekends I usually don’t like to use any shortcuts because I enjoy spending the whole day in the kitchen, but for convenience, the mix is hard to beat, especially on a weeknight. I also really like our Rouses Roux in a jar. The recipe on our Down-Home Gumbo Mix calls for two quarts of water, or your choice of liquid. Well, I use broth or stock in my gumbo because it adds a bit more flavor and richness. And I happen to like a thinner consistency, so I added three quarts of low sodium chicken broth instead of the two I mentioned. I also went with chicken thighs because dark meat is fattier, has more flavor and is less likely to toughen than white meat, as well as Rabideaux’s Cajun Smoked Pork Sausage, a favorite from Iowa, Louisiana. We sell it in all of our stores.

PHOTO BY CHANNING CANDIES

Gumbo is one of those foods that’s meant to be shared, like jambalaya, so when I was cooking for the magazine issue, I went ahead and made enough for dinner that night, with leftovers for our magazine team to try it the next day. Now, I really did plan on bringing some to work, but when I woke up the next day, I still had an envie for gumbo. I have to admit, I ended up keeping the leftovers and just sharing the recipe. I couldn’t help myself! You know what? That gumbo tasted even better the next day. And I didn’t once think about the heat. — Donny Rouse, CEO, 3 rd Generation

HOW DO YOU GUMBO? ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Most of us agree that gumbos must have onions, bell peppers and celery — the Holy Trinity of Cajun cooking — but that’s about all we agree on. If you, like me, think putting tomatoes in gumbo, even okra gumbo, is sacrilegious, keep reading; this side of the magazine is for you. If you are #teamtomato, flip over this issue and start from the other side.

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Red Beans & Rice Mondays began in the 19th century as a way for New Orleans families to make a simple, delicious meal during the busiest day of their week. Easy to cook and easier to love, the dish is now a beloved Louisiana staple and perfect for any busy schedule! Hearty red beans and fluffy rice. That’s a delicious duo that will make every Monday better.

Learn more about the tradition and find recipes at REDBEANS AND RICEMONDAYS .COM

ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Classic Cajun dishes generally call for medium grain white rice. It can go in just about anything, though it is particularly suited to something like étouffée, with its oftentimes rich and thick sauce. If you are preparing a gumbo, on the other hand, you might consider a stickier grain of rice. Gumbo is a thinner broth. Short grain rice releases more starch as it’s cooked, and that starch is what makes it sticky.

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Table of Contents

TEAM ROUX

27 Simply Z’Best by Marcelle Bienvenu

In Every Issue 1 It’s Always Gumbo Weather by Donny Rouse 5 Letter from the Editor by Marcy Nathan

Recipes & Cooking

Marketing & Advertising Director Tim Acosta

9 Mom’s Microwave Roux 27 Leah Chase’s Gumbo Z’Herbes Marcelle’s Gumbo Z’Herbes (without a roux) 32 Red Bean Gumbo

28 Sunday Supper by Poppy Tooker Holy Thursday by Poppy Tooker

Creative Director & Editor Marcy Nathan

31 Monday’s Red Beans, Tuesday’s Gumbo by David W. Brown 33 Tastes Like ’homme by Marcelle Bienvenu 40 Prejeans: Simply Cajun by Sarah Baird

7 Cookin’ on Hwy. 1 with Tim Acosta

Art Director, Layout & Design Eliza Schulze

9 Are You Still a Cajun If You Microwave Your Roux? by Ali Rouse Royster

Illustrator Kacie Galtier

35 Mr. B’s Gumbo Ya Ya

36 Marcelle’s Shrimp and Egg Gumbo

Marketing Coordinator Harley Breaux

Whatcha Cookin’? 14 They All Asked for Roux by David W. Brown 16 Thin Cajun Gumbo by Sarah Baird 19 Alphabet Soup by Sarah Baird A to Z illustrations by Kacie Galtier

41 State Fare by Sarah Baird

37 Shrimp Stock

Copy Editors Patti Stallard Adrienne Crezo

45 Duck, Duck, Gumbo by Sarah Baird

45 Chef Nathan Richard’s Duck, Oyster and Tasso Gumbo 47 Don’s Squirrel and Rabbit Combo Gumbo

47 Squirrel Away This Recipe for Hunting Season by Don Dubuc

Advertising & Marketing Amanda Kennedy Stephanie Hopkins Nancy Besson Taryn Clement Mary Ann Florey

49 Gumbo Festivals & Cook-Offs

MCWARE ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Magnalite cookware is no longer in production, but we sell a great alternative. Mamou, Louisiana-based McWare Cookware’s aluminum pots are sturdy, like Magnalite, and built to last. They can go from refrigerator to stovetop to oven and are perfect for gumbo. You can find McWare Cookware at most Rouses Markets. SPAHR’S ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Founded in 1968 in the fishing community of Des Allemands (“the Catfish Capital of the Universe”), Spahr’s Seafood has three locations in Louisiana: the original, in Des Allemands, and Galliano and Thibodaux. The restaurant is known for these signature items: “The Original” catfish chips, their Bloody Mary, and seafood gumbo, which is made with a dark roux, shrimp, crabmeat and two types of sausage (smoked and hot).

Design Intern Peyton finch

COVER PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO

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Letter from the Editor

TEAM ROUX

By Marcy Nathan, Creative Director A friend of mine at Commander’s Palace was looking for wild duck; a guest chef (Danny Trace, then the executive chef of Brennan’s in Houston), wanted to make a wild duck gumbo. There are plenty of wing shots and hunters at Rouses Markets, but before I could even call Donald or Donny Rouse or anyone else, my dad, eavesdropping on my phone call, piped up with an offer: “I have a freezer full of mallards the judge gave me. The chef can have them if he saves me a bowl of that gumbo.” My dad loved gumbo. Every year, he stood in line for Prejean’s Pheasant, Quail and Andouille Gumbo at Jazz Fest. He ordered gumbo everywhere he went. A few years back when his blood pressure got too high, and his doctor told him no more soup, my dad — ever the lawyer — tried to argue that gumbo wasn’t soup. There are culinary historians like Lois Eric Elie who would agree that gumbo is neither soup nor stew, but its own category of food (read more at www. rouses.com). But like soup, it was still too salty. The ducks were in the freezer in the log cabin, the original house on Dad’s property, which served as a guest house. He loaded me down with more than a dozen ducks, including one in a Rouses Markets plastic bag. (Do you, like me, carry all of your bags of groceries on two arms rather than make two trips?) Commander’s Palace has a dress code, so instead of going straight to the restau rant, I made a stop at my house Uptown to change out of my jeans. My cute little neighbor, Alexander, who I call Salamander, approached as I was getting out of the car. “Whatcha doing?” he asked. “Bringing ducks to my friends at Command er’s Palace to make gumbo,” I told him. “Ducks! Can I see?” “They are all wrapped up, but let me look.” One bag, the Rouse Markets bag, was loosely tied, so I handed it to him. “Look,” I said, “this one still has feathers!”

PHOTO BY CHANNING CANDIES

at my dad’s house at the time; if I stopped by for lunch, there was always a crowd eating in the kitchen. I guess anyone could have been the culprit, though they all denied it. I think Melvin, the gardener, was the likely culprit because he actually ate squirrel. Trash pickup at my house wasn’t for another few days, and I didn’t want to leave a frozen squirrel defrosting and decom posing in my garbage can, so I threw the Rouses bag in the freezer and slammed the door shut. Later, when I got to Commander’s, I told them the story. Danny Trace told me, “Oh, don’t worry, my mom kept sparrows in the freezer.” (Sparrows?)

Salamander opened the bag, peered inside, and screamed, “Those aren’t feathers, that’s fur!” You know the expression: If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck…then it probably is a duck? Well, Salamander was right, this wasn’t a duck. It was a whole squirrel — head, skin, tail and all. Frozen solid. Squirrels had the run of the place, at least the yard, at my dad’s house. They brazenly ran along the branches of the old oak trees that shaded the pool. Not content with acorns, they stole seeds out of the birdfeeders and oranges from the trees, which dad bought in Plaquemines Parish and planted outside the sunroom. Dad couldn’t stand the squirrels. He offered a bounty to anyone who shot one. Clearly, someone got one. No one would admit to putting the whole squirrel in the freezer. Lots of people worked

SQUIRREL AND RABBIT GUMBO ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Don Dubuc has a recipe for squirrel and rabbit gumbo in this issue (see page 47). I won’t be making it, but you should!

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Contributors SARAH BAIRD

Sarah Baird is the author of multiple books, including New Orleans Cocktails and Flask , which was released in summer 2019. A 2019 Knight Visiting Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, her work has been featured in The New York Times , Washington Post , Saveur , Eater , Food &Wine and The Guardian , among others. Previously, she served as restaurant critic for the New Orleans alt-weekly, Gambit Weekly , where she won Critic of the Year in 2015 for her dining reviews. MARCELLE BIENVENU Marcelle Bienvenu is a cookbook author and food writer. A native of St. Martinville, in the heart of Cajun country, Bienvenu wrote Who’s Your Mama, Are You Catholic and Can You Make a Roux? and Stir the Pot: The History of Cajun Cuisine with Eula Mae Dora, and other books and cookbooks. She also co authored five cookbooks with Emeril Lagasse. DAVID W. BROWN David W. Brown is a freelance writer whose work appears in The Atlantic , The New York Times , Scientific American and The New Yorker . His most recent book, The Mission: A True Story , a rollicking adventure about a motley band of explorers on a quest to find oceans on Europa, is in bookstores now. Brown lives in New Orleans. DON DUBUC Don Dubuc, the Outdoors Guy, is a TV and radio personality covering hunting and fishing news. His Outdoor Show with Don Dubuc airs on WWL 870 in New Orleans, 104.5 ESPN Radio in Baton Rouge, Gator 99.5 in Lake Charles, KPEL 99.5 in Lafayette, KMLB 540 in Monroe, and WAVH Talk 1065 in Mobile, Alison Fensterstock is a former music writer for the The Times-Picayune in New Orleans and a columnist for the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities magazine, 64 Parishes . Her work has also appeared in Rolling Stone, NPR Music, MOJO and The New York Times . SUSAN LANGENHENNIG GRANGER Susan Langenhennig Granger is editor of Preservation in Print magazine and director of communications and marketing for the Preservation Resource Center in New Orleans. Prior to that she was a news editor, reporter and feature columnist for The Times-Picayune and NOLA.com. P. JOHNSON P. Johnson is a New Orleans-based photographer, journalist and author of several books on Louisiana food culture. POPPY TOOKER Poppy Tooker is a native New Orleanian who has spent her life immersed in the vibrant colors and flavors of her state. Poppy spreads her message statewide and beyond via her NPR-affiliated radio show and podcast, “Louisiana Eats!” Alabama. Rouses Markets is a sponsor. ALISON FENSTERSTOCK

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TEAM ROUX

PHOTO BY CHANNING CANDIES

Cookin’ on Hwy. 1 By Tim Acosta, Advertising & Marketing Director “At midnight in the Quarter, or noon in Thibodaux, I will play for gumbo.” — Jimmy Buffett E veryone knows I’m a big Parrot Head. I’m a longtime fan and follower of Jimmy Buffett. You can flip to page 9 on the tomato side of this issue and read all about him. I’m also a big gumbo head. I will eat just about any kind of gumbo — chicken & sausage, shrimp & okra, duck & andouille, rabbit, red bean. Marcelle Bienvenu has a story and recipe on page 36 about a dried and fresh shrimp gumbo in which eggs are poached; I like my poached egg on an English muffin, with Hollandaise sauce, but hey, I would give it a try. The gumbo in the photo on this page is my dad’s version. I used to love watching him make it on Christmas Day. He’d start with the roux in one pot, add the trinity, and then stir in the stock. He’d brown the

PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO

chops in your gumbo, and it would come out good. There isn’t a right or wrong way when it comes to cooking gumbo — and no wrong way to eat it. My wife Cindy and I like potato salad with our gumbo, but we don’t put it in the same bowl. Cindy makes a hearty chicken & sausage gumbo with a dark roux that can take hours to cook, and a lighter seafood & okra gumbo with fresh shrimp, lump crabmeat and plenty of crab claws. She makes fresh potato salad from scratch to go with each kind, and serves it warm, never refrigerated. I layer the bowls, rice on the bottom, gumbo on top. We add the filé to it at the table. A spoonful of potato salad just passes through the gumbo. Hey, as a kid I used to dip my cookies in milk — now I dip my potato salad in gumbo.

chicken along with the smoked sausage in another pot, then add the pan drippings to the gumbo pot. He’d also throw in cocktail smokies for extra flavor. The nice thing about gumbo is you can stretch it out to feed more people if extra company drops by. You can always add more water to build the liquid back up, add a little more meat or seafood, or drop in eggs like Marcelle does. Dad’s one-pot Christmas gumbo would turn into a two-pot gumbo because he put so much into it. And before you judge the little smokies in his gumbo: I know people who put chicken wings — even chicken gizzards — in gumbo, and plenty of people add meatballs. My friend Brian Pollard makes meatballs with Patton’s Hot Sausage, which is something I have to try. You could probably put pork

PATTON’S SAUSAGE ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Patton’s Sausage Company has been producing their hot sausage for decades, first in New Orleans, now in Bogalusa. It’s so good, people order it on po-boys by name (I like mine dressed, with cheese.) Patton’s adds a distinctive sausage flavor to gumbo that’s different from smoked sausage, which I also use. Roll the Patton’s hot sausage patty into small meatballs, then bake or pre-fry them to get the grease out. Don’t add them straight into the pot, or you’ll end up with greasy gumbo. If you don’t feel like making gumbo, Li’l Dizzy’s Cafe on Esplanade in Treme uses Patton’s in theirs — and you get a half of a crab in every bowl. – Brian Pollard, Consultant, Rouses Markets 7 WWW. ROUSES . COM

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1) being a great timesaver and 2) using flour and oil from my pantry! If you aren’t worried about losing your Cajun card — and listen, mine is laminated and safe, so I wouldn’t worry too much! — enjoy this step-by-step guide to my momma’s microwave roux. Her maiden name’s Barrilleaux, so you know it’s bayou-approved. MOM’S MICROWAVE ROUX “You need a deep, heavy, heat-resistant microwave dish.” —Karen HOW TO PREP: In a large, deep, microwaveable dish, whisk together ingredients until smooth. Microwave on high for 4 minutes; remove from microwave and stir. (Be careful, dish will be very hot). Microwave for another 3 minutes, then remove and stir. Microwave for another 2 minutes, then remove and stir. Microwave for 1 minute, then remove and stir. At this point your roux should be a nice caramel color and ready to use in your gumbo or other recipe. WHAT YOU WILL NEED: ¾ cup Rouses Vegetable Oil 1 cup all-purpose flour

up a rotisserie chicken? Why spend time chopping vegetables when they’re already cut and packaged in the produce depart ment? (Sometimes I see what’s available and decide on a quick supper from that — hello, stir fry mix! Shall we make tofu bowls tonight?) And (I hope this doesn’t get my Cajun card revoked) there’s no easier recipe to cheat on than gumbo. My husband and I both love a good gumbo. Any kind, any method, any weather! My picky-eater middle child will request chicken and sausage gumbo (hold the sausage, or chop it so tiny she doesn’t notice it!); it’s a departure from the peanut butter sandwiches or mac and cheese she requests for every other meal. So gumbo is always in our rotation. We have made gumbo all of the ways, using any number of shortcuts. Rotisserie chicken is a no-brainer. The roux, though; that’s a labor of love. Maybe one day I’ll stand at my stove with my wooden spoon babysitting a roux, but that day is not today, my friends. I love the Rouses Gumbo Mix, and I love the jarred Rouses Roux. And I am particularly fond of the Karen Rouse School of Cooking Microwave Roux (patent pending ), which is a double-doozy for

TEAM ROUX

By Ali Rouse Royster, 3rd Generation I like to cook, but I’mno culinary purist. I’d like a leisurely afternoon in the kitchen — cranking some tunes, making my mise en place , following a recipe, etc. — but as a working mom of three grade schoolers, there is nothing leisurely about my afternoons! So I’ll use a good shortcut if it doesn’t sacrifice too much of the end product. (I get this from my mother, Karen, the shortcut queen.) Why bake a whole chicken when I can pick Are You Still a Cajun If You Microwave Your Roux?

ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT The basic formula for a roux is one part fat to one part flour. The fat you use will affect the final flavor of whatever you are cooking. Butter is perfect for white and blond roux; you can even use butter to make brown roux. If you want to use butter in a darker roux for a gumbo, mix it with a high-heat oil, so it doesn’t scorch.

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When someone asks about my life in Thibodaux, I say it’s like I am studying abroad. I’m from Mobile, Alabama, so the South is not new to me. But since moving from the bay to the bayou, I’ve realized there’s just something about Thibodaux. The food, music, language, culture and people are like nothing I’ve ever seen before. My friend Dane made the gumbo on the cover; our neighbor Perry might bring in a tray of fresh-fried choupique he caught earlier; and a sunny day during crawfish season is just begging for a boil in the backyard. That’s just Thibodaux for you. I’d lived here eight months when Ida hit. Afterwards, I moved in with Matt, Joe and Ethan — and these guys, now my great friends, really opened the door to the good times in Thibodaux for me. I try to immerse myself in the local culture. I keep a running list of Cajun French words that I can toss around in casual conversation. And my bucket list of things to do, like my Cajun lexicon, just keeps growing. For instance, frogging is a high priority up here, along with skinning a raccoon and kayaking down Bayou Lafourche, which runs right through town. To sum it all up (using my Cajun):

In the tomatoes vs. roux debate, I’m #teamroux. I love a good, dark gumbo like the one on this side’s cover — and I love-love a good, dark gumbo poured over a bowl of fresh potato salad. (Although I hear that’s controversial here in New Orleans.) My love of gumbo runs deep, and my identity runs deeper than Art Director at Rouses: One of my secret talents is roller skating. When I joined the Chattanooga Roller Girls a few years back, I was tasked with choosing a strong skater name. My Southwest Louisiana heritage came into play, and I became “Roux” while on wheels. Carrying a part of my Cajun identity onto the track helped me channel my inner roux-ga-roux (folklore swamp monster, to those not familiar). Once we moved back (farther) South, I embraced my Cajun roots further. Every winter, I look forward to waking up before the sun on Mardi Gras day to participate in Courir de Mardi Gras; I still like to brag about catching the chicken on a rainy Mardi Gras morning in 2017. There’s just nothing like a steaming bowl of fresh gumbo on Mardi Gras day, after a long morning of walking along country roads with a hundred of your closest friends. – Eliza Schulze, Art Director

For those of you who haven’t heard of red bean gumbo, it’s a creamy, red bean soup mixture that has a roux flavor like gumbo. I love to talk about red bean gumbo because it’s delicious and combines two of my favorite meals in one! When I was growing up in Luling, my family was always very serious about their beans & rice: red beans, white beans, lima beans — you name it — and of course, we were always equally serious when it came to our gumbos. When we evacuated ahead of Hurricane Katrina to my nanny’s house it was my uncle’s turn to cook dinner, and he did not disappoint us with his wonderful red bean gumbo. I still remember that first bite; it was so good that I quickly went back for seconds. Many of my cousins cook their red bean gumbo using his recipe. They use canned beans when they’re short on time, and dried red beans when they have plenty of time to let the beans cook down slow and velvety…yum! – Amanda Kennedy, Senior Manager Brand & Marketing Strategy

Life in Thibodaux, I like that, me. – Mary Ann Florey, Graphic Designer

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TEAM ROUX

I love a thin gumbo, and for extra zing, I always add a capful of white vinegar directly into my bowl. I inherited the habit from my father, who always “just adds a little somethin’ different” to nearly every home-cooked meal (one example being ketchup in mac & cheese – don’t knock it ’til you try it). Not only am I #TeamRoux, but I’m also #TeamRicelessGumbo. Given that I’ve lived south of I-10 my whole life, you’d think rice would be ingrained (pun definitely intended) in my DNA – but I protest. Sure, cutting the rice slashes the carbs, but it also allows me to quite literally eat double the amount of gumbo. And that is something I really love to do! – Kacie Galtier, Designer & Illustrator

Like gumbo, pho has no particular eating weather or season. And despite its hot broth and savory fixings, pho is eaten throughout the year, at any time of day. Every time I visited my Maw Maw’s house as a child, there would be a warm, delicious pot of beef and chicken pho for our family, with a hot pot of rice made especially for me. And just as it is with gumbo, everyone makes their pho a little differently. People are particular about the choice of protein and toppings for their pho, which resembles the debate between chicken or seafood gumbo. In New Orleans, it’s all about what you grew up with, and hot soup on a summer day just feels like home to me. – Peyton Finch, Design Intern Gumbo is a year-round favorite in my family. It really doesn’t matter what’s happening with the weather: We are currently under a heat advisory, and I just had seafood gumbo. We like to use Autin’s Gumbo Mix — it’s my mother-in-law’s recipe and, believe it or not, she doesn’t use a roux. You really can’t taste the difference though, and we love it. My husband makes it the best. When he cooks his gumbo, my son likes to watch and pretend cook along with him in his play kitchen. – Harley Breaux, Marketing Coordinator

My pawpaw always said Mamie would put a big pot at the end of the table and, every night, the leftovers and table scraps went into the pot. On Sunday she’d make a gumbo. – Stephanie Hopkins, Senior Graphic Designer

Heat index over 112 degrees — ask my husband to cook a gumbo. Anyone else? – Taryn Clement, E-commerce Manager

I don’t put okra in my gumbo, which absolutely horrified my mother-in-law, who was a pure Cajun from Pierre Part; s he barely spoke English. She said, “Mais, if you don’t put gumbo in da gumbo dat’s not a gumbo!” (Gumbo is the African and Cajun word for okra.) – Nancy Besson, Graphic Designer

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They All Asked for Roux By David W. Brown

“Gumbo is such an opinionated dish,” says Chef Eric Cook, the owner of the restaurants Gris-Gris on Magazine Street and Saint John on Decatur Street in New Orleans. “If you had to pick one food in New Orleans, the number-one most scrutinized, debated, argued dish would be gumbo. Everyone believes theirs is the right one, and everyone believes theirs is the most traditional gumbo ever.”

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PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO

A fter 30 years in the New Orleans restaurant industry, Cook has a few opinions of his own about the best way to make it. “I’ve worked in New Orleans restaurants my entire life and my entire career, and I’ve made gumbo with every big restaurant in the city,” he says. Much of that time was making other people’s gumbo, whether from family recipes or the recipes from storied New Orleans chefs of the past. When Chef Cook planted his own flag, he looked for culinary inspiration west of the city. “Our menus say ’Paroisse de Vermilion-inspired.’ We make Vermilion Parish-inspired gumbo, which is way different than New Orleans gumbo,” he says. “Here, there’s a tendency toward seafood gumbos, okra, filé — that sort of thing. In Lafayette, it’s all about the roux. The dark, dark, dark, dark, dark roux. It’s not a thick stew, though. It’s a little lighter in consistency and way deeper in flavor.” Seafood gumbo, he says, leads to something a little bit thicker, with a flavor profile that leans hard into its seafood stock, and the pronounced flavors and textures of shellfish, crabmeat and shrimp. “I’m not going to say it’s bad because I love a good seafood gumbo, I love eating half a crab out of a gumbo. But for me, it should not be as thick, and not be as spicy. People can add their own hot sauce.” For Cook, rather, simple is best when it comes to gumbo. “I think gumbo sometimes becomes overcomplicated because it has so many ingredients in it. For us, it’s simple: the trinity, sausage, chicken, a great stock and a great roux. That’s it, and that’s where we kind of draw the line. Like, this is what it is . Our gumbo speaks for itself. You can taste the sausage. You can taste the chicken. You get the roux. You under stand its aroma, the aromatics, that deep, dark chicken stock. And it’s just simple and delicious, not overpowering. It’s something that you just remember forever once you eat it.” Cook explains that chicken and andouille lend themselves to textures and flavor combinations in gumbo that are hard to beat. “We roast whole chickens for the gumbo,” he says. “Our roux is dark, dark, dark.” At Gris-Gris and Saint John, he and his kitchen team make a 48-hour chicken stock for the base of the gumbo. “We take chicken bones and put them in the oven until they almost burn, and we put them in the pot with some celery, some onions, some carrots, and we let the whole thing go for two days to get that dark, almost ‘holiday gravy’-smelling stock.” In the gumbo itself, simplicity is his watchword. He adds celery, onion and bell pepper to the pot, and uses andouille. The “dark, dark, dark” roux and chicken stock go in, along with a little bit of Worces tershire, a little bit of Creole seasoning and a little bit of hot sauce — and that’s it. “We are not trying to overthink it. It’s simple things done extremely well,” he says. The depth of the gumbo speaks for itself. “You can taste every little nuance, from that little bit of heat brought in by the sausage, to that dark, profound flavor of the roux. It’s a very straightforward approach to bringing about very complex, very deep layers of flavor.” A few bright herbs go on top, some green onion, and the whole thing is brought together with Louisiana rice. This differs a bit from the Lafayette style of a potato salad-driven gumbo recipe. (“You know, I’m a big fan of potato salad, but in New Orleans it’s a tough sell,” Cook says.)

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PHOTO BY ROMERO & ROMERO

Since he first started making it, his recipe has been a benchmark in the New Orleans culinary world. “I haven’t touched this recipe in almost 20 years,” he says. “I don’t change it. I don’t venture out.” NewOrleans has stood for more than three centuries, and its unique history has forged the only real and overarching metropolitan cuisine in the United States. “Chicago can keep the hot dog, New York can have the pizza. California can have the avocado,” says Cook. “New Orleans has Creole. Our city is a melting pot of ethnic and genera tional influences — African, Haitian, Spanish, German, Italian, Asian, French. We have had so many different, powerful contributors to our cuisine, evolved over the last 300 years.” Today we still feel a strong Creole influence, Cook explains. “It goes back to the French, when those big creams came in, and the butters came in, but that Cajun influence is still in town because everything here has always been a matter of availability.” The waters and woods around the city provided seafood and wild game for New Orleanians since the first nail went into the first frame of the first house here. Because New Orleans is a port city, the influx of people both free and enslaved brought culinary influences together in ways unlike anywhere else in the world. “Africans and Haitians brought so many dishes into New Orleans that have now evolved into a staple culture,” Cook says. Immigrants from every corner of the world in turn brought

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Traditional New Orleans cuisine is something you get at restau rants, but is also something that families make at home, and have keen and nuanced understandings of. Which is perhaps the main reason for the intensity of the gumbo discussion. “In Louisiana, everyone’s got a gumbo recipe, and everyone’s grandmother’s recipe is better than everybody else’s,” Cooks explains. “The lines that cross over into family recipes — it’s like holy ground. So I always tell folks if I can be the second-best in Louisiana — if my gumbo’s almost as good as your grandma’s or your grandpa’s gumbo, then there is no better trophy for me in the world, because it’s such a family tradition, such a source of pride.”

their own ideas of how to cook, and their own ingredients, and that likewise yielded new dishes of increasing elegance and sophistication. “To be a chef in this city means to always be a teacher, and to always be a student,” says Chef Cook. “And always remember: You’re just a cook. The term ‘chef,’ to me, is just a leadership kind of role. I’m still learning every day, and I’m still teaching every day but it’s an obligation, I believe, because the culinary world is always changing and being influenced.” American cities like New York are prone to culinary fads, and those fads radiate nationally. “What happens in New York is that new fads emerge at insanely expensive restaurants. But food is never a fad here. Ever. This is what we are. This is what we’ve always been. We were a food town before people knew what a food town was. And the preservation of that culture, the preservation of that history, the preservation of that story is essential.”

Thin Cajun Gumbo By Sarah Baird A

and up until the turn of the 20th century is that flour was a pricey import, and butter was expensive — really expensive. The original roux primarily used different types of lard in place of butter or oil, including, if you can believe it, bear lard. Also as a result of these sky-high ingredient costs, roux-based gumbos found more prominent footing in restaurant-heavy urban port cities (ahem, New Orleans) than on the home-cooking tables of Southwest Louisiana, where “thin” gumbo is still winning over new generations of fans with each bowl.

And while cooks throughout South Louisiana still love to bicker over whether okra or filé is the best gumbo thickener, one thing they can agree on is that both ingredients were used to make luxurious, decadent gumbos — one (filé) used by the Choctaw, the other (okra) by Africans — long before French-Acadians brought the concept of a roux into regular rotation. In fact, inside 1901’s landmark recipe tome, The Picayune Creole Cook Book , okra and filé are discussed at length in the nine-recipe- long gumbo section, but only two of the recipes — shrimp gumbo filé and oyster gumbo — involve a roux, with recipes like penny-pinching cabbage gumbo and squirrel gumbo going completely roux-less. A primary reason that roux- based gumbo remained

sk most people what’s truly necessary when making a good gumbo, and the majority would say that a thick, rich roux is as vital

as the pot the dish is cooked in. For centuries along the Gulf Coast, though, gumbo and its ancestral versions were made without a roux (gasp!). In many homes across rural stretches of Acadiana today, you’ll still find roux-less, or “thin” gumbo served with regularity. “If you ask folks in Terrebonne Parish if they make roux for their gumbo, most of them will say no. Gumbos in this part of the state don’t use roux as a thickener. Really thick, dark-roux gumbos are more common in restaurants than in Cajun homes,” writes Melissa Martin in her James Beard Award winning book, Mosquito Supper Club: Cajun Recipes from a Disappearing Bayou . “I had never had a gumbo dark, rich and

something of a rarity in colonial Louisiana

thick from roux until I lived in New Orleans and tried the ones served in restaurants there. You won’t find a roux-based gumbo in Cajun homes on the bayou, but roux certainly have their place in classic Louisiana dishes.”

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POTATO, POTATEAUX (From top left) ROW 1: Rouses Mustard Potato Salad A traditional, Southern-style yellow mustard potato salad • ROW 2: Deviled Egg Potato Salad Creamy deviled egg potato salad with paprika • ROW 3: Cajun Potato Salad We add a kick of seasoning to our Cajun potato salad • ROW 4: Country Potato Salad with Egg Our country potato salad with egg has a thicker cut of potato • ROW 5: Classic Potato Salad with Egg Classic home-style potato salad with egg • ROW 6: Loaded Baked Potato Salad We’ve loaded this baked potato salad with everything • ROW 7: New Orleans Style Potato Salad New Orleans potato salad with red potatoes, eggs and sweet pickle relish

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Alphabet Soup By Sarah Baird No matter where you travel along the byways and backroads of the Gulf Coast, practically every person you encounter will have big opinions about how to make the best gumbo. Some swear by okra as a gumbo thickener; others would almost come to blows over the superiority of filé powder. At a dinner, it’s common to see second cousins bickering over whether or not a roux spoon matters — and who gets to inherit their grand-mère’s heirloom gumbo cauldron. For every person with roots in the “gumbo belt” of South Louisiana, there is a one-of-a-kind take on what makes gumbo truly sing. By my reasoning, though, there are no wrong answers, just more “Why didn’t I think of that?” permutations of techniques and ingredients to learn. The A-Z alphabet of gumbo aims to provide a fresh does of inspiration — and maybe a little nostalgia — for when you’re cooking your next pot. There are enough gumbo iterations to keep stirring up new versions well into your golden years, melding together time honored tradition with modern tweaks and learned-in-the-gumbo-trenches best practices. Who knows, what you read next might even change your mind about how to answer that age-old question: How do you gumbo?

for a pillowy hunk of bread? It will ensure your gumbo is good to the last drop.

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A IS FOR ANDOUILLE Andouille makes no secret Of its smoke and its spice, So when it comes to gumbo, Chefs don’t think twice.

C IS FOR CHICKEN No poultry can top Chicken’s place in the pot, Whether seafood or sausage, It’s tossed in a lot.

A type of sausage perfected in the parishes that snake along the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, andouille’s dense, smoky depth is almost as synonymous with gumbo as the roux itself. Combining the best of German porky engineering with a dash of French je ne sais quoi , andouille’s sometimes peppery, often garlic-flecked flavor profile plays nicely with almost all other ingredients typically found in gumbos to form some of the most classic ingredient pairings around. (Sausage and chicken gumbo, anyone?) Sure, there are other types of hot sausage tossed in a gumbo every now and again — particularly among non traditionalists — but nothing can replace the hearty ubiquity of andouille. An “andouille trail” even recently launched in Louisiana’s River Parishes so smoked meat devotees can get their porcine fill from local purveyors.

Out of all the proteins from both land and sea that grace the gumbo pot, chicken is the most underrated. It doesn’t have the tongue-tickling burn of hot sausage, nor does it come with the innate brininess of seafaring crustaceans. It’s a plain Jane in the company of rock stars. No matter the recipe, though, it’s always there for you — just waiting for a little flicker of attention. So, next time you’re dreaming up a gumbo, why not give your chicken a little bit of extra loving: a spice-rich rubdown or a day at the seasoning spa. And if you find that your pampered chicken brings a whole new element to your gumbo, maybe next up on your list will be making a Cajun-style whole hen version.

D IS FOR DARK ROUX White, blonde, to brown, Watch it close until dark, Every gumbo lover knows The roux gives it its spark.

B IS FOR BREAD Dipping crackers in gumbo

Is classic — it’s true But for many of us, Nothing but French bread will do.

An expertly crafted roux serves as the flavorful foundation for most modern gumbos (even if there’s a little filé added in), but what color the roux should be is the source of much debate among home cooks throughout South Louisiana. Some people swear that it should be the color of a brown paper bag; others are aiming for a roux that’s chocolate-bar hued; some even take it to the almost-burned edge. No matter where you fall on the sepia tinged rainbow that is the great roux debate, everyone is just working to make their roux look half as good as their grandmother’s version.

For some gumbo lovers, the crunch of regular ol’ saltines — or even a handful of puffy oyster crackers — is sufficient for dipping into the bowl. It’s straightforward; it’s trusted; it’s not fussy. It won’t turn any heads in a restaurant or make your friends give you side-eye. For others, though, sopping up every last drop from the bottom of the gumbo bowl is the only option — and that’s where a nice, thick piece of French bread comes in. If you’re not afraid to get a little messy, and look a little gluttonous, might I suggest swapping out ho-hum crackers

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And while some envelope-pushers might try to use both okra and filé in a gumbo, most South Louisianians agree: There are filé folks and there are okra people, and this is an ingredient feud where never the twain shall meet.

seem excessive at times, but never fear — the gumbo can take it.

E IS FOR EGG Unheard of to most, But folks in Eunice — they swear Adding hard-boiled egg Gives their gumbo some flair.

I IS FOR INGENUITY Traditionalists gasp At gumbo competitions, When newfangled ingredients Are on exhibition.

The one-off additions plopped into to a bowl of gumbo on a parish-by-parish basis can seem odd to those uninitiated, but when taken as part of a larger gumbo tapestry, they work to bring a hyperlocal unique ness to Louisiana’s gumbo making. Across the Cajun Prairie — particularly in Eunice — hard-boiled chicken or quail eggs are a common addition to gumbo, while some people in Avoyelles and Rapides Parishes swear that a mashed sweet potato makes all the difference in gumbo quality. Pickles of all kinds also pop up on occasion, lending a zippy tang to a dish known for its richness.

G IS FOR GENEROSITY Every host will tell you, Get another bowl! Gulf Coast families know Gumbo is good for the soul.

Gumbo competitions tend to bring out everyone’s creative side — the goal is to show the judges something they’ve never seen before, after all — but when you’re a gumbo purist, there can be a sense that too many nontraditional items can, quite literally, spoil the pot. Whether home cooks compete at neighborhood charity events or the World Championship Gumbo Cookoff in New Iberia, there are those who fall firmly in the “keep it classic” camp…and others willing to see what gumbo can do. The best way to judge the outside-the-box versions is on the only merit that really counts: Is it delicious?

Let’s be honest: If you’re invited to a meal in South Louisiana, there’s no way you’ll walk away from the table without feeling at least a little overstuffed. Call it the curse of the generous host, but more is more when it comes to meals along the Gulf Coast: If you’re not going back for a second bowl of gumbo, someone will encourage you to do so. Maybe even several people. After all, if you’re not cleaning your bowl and headed back for round two, the cook might not think you’re enjoying it…and there’s no need to risk offending anyone.

F IS FOR FILÉ Don’t be stingy with the fil é If you want your gumbo thick, This charmed herbal powder Always does the trick.

J IS FOR JAMBALAYA A close cousin to gumbo, That much is true, But if you mix these two up — Then shame on you.

H IS FOR HOT SAUCE Looking for a kick of heat Or a five-alarm fire? Splashing hot sauce on your gumbo Will take the spice levels higher.

Filé powder — or gumbo filé — is an herbal, dried-and-ground powder made from the leaves of the sassafras tree, and when you first spot it in the spice aisle, it looks a whole lot like a big jar of dust. But one shake into your gumbo and it’s obvious that this is the sort of magic dust that Cajun fairy tales are made of, thickening the gumbo so smoothly and effortlessly that few other methods can compare. That is, unless you’re in “camp okra” as the superior gumbo thickener. In his 2019 book, Gumbo Life: Tales from the Roux Bayou , Ken Wells notes that filé’s role as a thickener for gumbo-like dishes extends back centuries, with an early Native American dish along the Gulf Coast combining saltwater scooped from the Gulf, filé and freshly caught shrimp into a stew-like meal.

Both dishes involve rice, a bevy of meats and a roux, sure. But be forewarned: There are few greater sins than conflating jambalaya and gumbo. If you’re uninitiated in the ways of the Cajun or Creole table, consider yourself warned. (You’ll thank me later.)

We all know someone who is a true hot sauce head: a person so deep into capsaicin levels and the Scoville scale that practically every other condiment in their house has been replaced in favor of the spicy stuff. They put hot sauce on everything — and gumbo is no exception. Even those without the palate of a fire-breathing dragon enjoy a dash (or 12) of hot sauce in their gumbo, whether it’s Crystal, hot pepper vinegar or some homemade concoction that could likely singe off someone’s eyebrows. The amount of hot sauce people stir into gumbo might

K IS FOR K-PAUL’S Paul Prudhomme Made gumbo a sensation,

Bringing Cajun flavor To the entire nation.

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grandfather’s day, his family, who helped to settle Louisiana’s River Parishes, put squirrel, smoked raccoon and rabbit in their gumbos — whatever they could catch.” Turkey neck gumbo has a specifically loyal following. The supple, rich flavor benefits specifically from the low-and-slow, all-day simmer of the gumbo pot.

It’s impossible to talk about the evolution of gumbo from regional dish to national sensation without mentioning the late, great Cajun chef and Louisiana icon Paul Prudhomme, who is a foundational example of how a cook can go from celebrated to full blown celebrity — and bring a dish rocketing to fame right alongside. The mastermind behind longtime French Quarter restaurant K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen, author of dozens of books, creator of an expansive seasoning line, and star of five PBS programs spanning two decades, Prudhomme introduced Louisiana cuisine to the masses, with gumbo leaving the strongest impression out of all the classic Cajun dishes. And while the gumbo made by a family in Wichita based on one of Prudhomme’s old recipes might be a little tamer than many along the Gulf Coast, the dish brings the same spirit of delicious inclusivity wherever it goes.

There are certain types of cookware that inspire an almost religious devotion among home cooks: cast iron, copper and ceramic, to name a few. But the most loyal fans have pledged their allegiance to the shiny sturdiness of Magnalite pots and pans — particularly for gumbo-making in South Louisiana. Made of a unique, durable aluminum and magnesium alloy, these gleaming silver kitchen tools have a denser base and thinner sides than most of their cookware counterparts, allowing the pots to heat more evenly and distribute heat faster during the cooking process. Magnalite cookware can go from stovetop to oven — and refrigerator to stovetop — without missing a beat, with an ability to sear meat to perfection while helping ingredients and flavors naturally mingle. Perhaps the most iconic of all the Magnalite pieces is the oval shaped roaster, a pot that resembles a very stout rocket ship or chunky UFO. If you see your grand-mère pull this famed vessel out of the cabinet, the odds are high that gumbo is what's for dinner.

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O IS FOR OKRA As a thickener and a vegetable, Okra’s gumbo role shines, If only some people Could get over the slime.

“Everything about okra is slime this and slime that until we get to gumbo. As soon as the topic of gumbo comes up, there is a switch in terminology and suddenly we’re praising okra’s magical thickening effect,” writes Chris Smith in his 2019 book, The Whole Okra: A Seed to Stem Celebration . In the centuries-long disagreement over what thickens gumbo more effectively, the green, finger-like vegetable is historically critical to the dish. Okra draws a direct line between gumbo and its West African roots (the words "okra" and "gumbo" even share an etymological origin) with records of okra soup being prepared and eaten by enslaved Africans in New Orleans appearing from as far back as the mid-1700s — years before the arrival of Acadians to Louisiana. “Multiple early references to gumbo as both a thickened soup and a plant (okra) make me think that gumbo is more clearly linked to okra than [filé],” Smith writes. “Perhaps [filé] was first used as a winter alternative or developed as an individual stew that later melded with the okra preparation and assumed the same name.”

L IS FOR LIQUOR Sipping a beer with your gumbo Is as classic as it comes, But some mix it up With scotch, sherry or rum.

N IS FOR NECKS Turkey neck gumbo

Has a cult that’s devoted, One bite — they say — And your current version’s demoted.

Beer and gumbo go together like football and tailgating, but what about all the other drink pairings? For a seafood gumbo, many people prefer to pair it with an off-dry Riesling, while earthier, sausage-heavy versions can mesh comfortably with an Albariño. Cocktails are another story; I’ve always been partial to a La Louisiane with mine, which stirs up rye, sweet vermouth, Benedictine, absinthe and Peychaud’s Bitters. Still, you can’t go wrong with a light Pilsner — or whatever happens to be in the cooler.

Those who have been in the gumbo business for some time know that when it comes to different varieties of meat in a gumbo, there really are no hard-and-fast rules. Dried shrimp? Gizzards? Oysters? Toss it all in a pot and see how it tastes! “I discovered in my travels and in scores of interviews that there is widespread ignorance — mine included — about what other people put in their gumbo. I learned from older gumbo cooks in particular that the protein that went into the dish in previous decades could be far more eclectic and exotic than today’s repertoire of chicken, duck, sausage and shellfish,” writes Ken Wells in Gumbo Life , noting that a hairdresser once told him her maw-maw put skinned snake meat into a gumbo. “[John] Folse told me that back in his

The plot — and gumbo — thickens.

M IS FOR MAGNALITE Magnalite is old-fashioned, To put it quite bluntly, But it’s still the favorite cookware In all of Cajun country.

P IS FOR POTATO SALAD

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