Miss Doretha's World Famous New Orleans Gumbo Recipe !!

(Well, the moment we have ALL waited for has finally arrived, Doretha Williams, photo at left, a dedicated student at SVDP-ALC, will reveal to us her secret recipe for real New Orleans Gumbo. What follows is the article she wrote about how to fix gumbo. For those unfamiliar with gumbo, this is the most famous soup, and probably the most famous dish in New Orleans. Only jambalaya, red beans and rice, and Po-boys come close. Well, maybe muffalettas too, and crawfish ettouffee' ... But gumbo rules in New Orleans as it is also the very symbol of our culture here which is a mixture of various things from various cultures. -- Adrian)

New Orleans Gumbo

By Doretha Williams

Recipe directions: Gumbo can be prepared with your choice of meats. You can cook it with chicken, smoked sausage, and hot sausage. You can put in ham, shrimp, or crabs. How to cook the gumbo: Pre-cook the chicken, sausage, hot sausage, and cut into bite-sized pieces. You can put in seafood also.

Then make your roux with flour and oil, put in a saucepan, stir and brown, but do not burn. Then put in onions, bell peppers, parsley, and celery [cut into bite-size], Let it cook in a big pot, add meat and water. Let it cook for about 20 plus minutes, stir. Put in the seafood, cook for 10 to 12 minutes. [Cook longer on low heat.]

You can eat rice with this [cooked separately] and crackers or French bread, if you have it.

How to make your roux: Put oil and flour in your sauce pan. stir it so it does not burn. Use more flour than oil. [You may use corn oil, vegetable oil, or butter; but beware butter can burn easily.]

Remeber: Brown but do not burn the roux.

(Note: Some gumbo recipes add file' -- a Choctaw spice from the leaf of the sassafras -- to soup bowls before serving; but do NOT cook with the file'. Also, other gumbos add cooked okra; or use canned okra too. But if your roux is thick enough and brown enough, anywhere from the color of peanuts to coffee beans, you will not need file' or okra. Doretha's great recipe calls for a roux only, but she said you can add file' to your individual bowl if you have it just before eating. Adrian)