Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this ebook, free of charge, from LSU Press via #Edelweissplus, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it. All opinions are my own.
Synopsis:
Gumbo adorns menus from New Orleans to New York to New Delhi, appearing in variations such as chicken and sausage gumbo, gombo z’herbes, and seafood gumbo. Some cooks use roux, others okra, and adding tomatoes to the pot can provide extra flavor or start a fight. Within this spirit of diversity lies the beauty of gumbo.
Two culinary creations—West African okra stew and Choctaw soup—helped birth Louisiana gumbo. The Choctaw ground up sassafras, called filé, while West Africans like the Bambara provided okra and rice. From there, Spanish Caribbean influences introduced hot peppers and spices, the Germans pioneered smoked sausage and andouille, and the French devised the roux. Gumbo traces the history of how colonization, slavery, immigration, industry, and seasonality all had an impact on which ingredients wound up in the gumbo pot.
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Review:
This is technically a book on the history of the Louisiana State Dish, gumbo, but it is also the story of how a dish came to be and was influenced by every culture that touched it in the state. Louisiana is truly an oddity in the US (trust me, we've lived in all the regions). Louisiana has a long history colonization that truly made a melting pot of equal influence, into what we see as our Louisiana culture. It really is true that no one's gumbo is the same as anyone else's. I remember being in high school and my best friend's mother was making gumbo and I told her I hated it, having only had my paternal grandmother's gumbo, which was made the NOLA way with okra (eck, slimy!!!). She just shook her head and said nope I'll cook you the way my momma makes it and you'll love- no okra guaranteed. because she was from central Louisiana, and they used file powder, not okra for thickening. Did I love it? Oh yeah, she sent a third of the pot home with me! LOL. And every time she knew I was coming over, she's save me some of 'her' gumbo to take home!
And that is what gumbo IS- it's how your momma made it- it's her personal spice flavor habit, her favorite sausage/ham/other meat, combined with how she made her roux. And everyone in Louisiana will tell you, it's the roux, and NOBODY makes it the same, as it's based on feel and look as to when it's ready. So every gumbo tells not only a family story, but their ancestral story, and that is why Louisiana is so vehement over 'Louisiana type' gumbos sold outside the state. If you can't get the supplies your momma used, then you're not REALLY making her gumbo, your making your version of it. And that's ok, just don't say it's Louisiana gumbo if you're in Minnesota and using frozen okra. LOL
This paperback book is only 112 pages, but if you want to KNOW what truly makes Louisiana so unique, THIS is the book to read. Oliver does a great job in referencing other great books on Louisiana too, so be sure to check out the bibliography for some other amazing articles, news stories, television shows and books on everything about Louisiana culture and its food!
About the Author:
Jonathan Olivier is a journalist who lives in Lafayette, Louisiana. His writing, in English and French, focuses on the unique cultural elements of the Bayou State.
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