Every year I grab my tablespoon, adjust my bib, and continue my search for the best-tasting seafood gumbo I can find. It’s not an easy job, but I’m up to it again this year. You can find it anywhere you can smell the salt in the air. My pick is the gulf coast from Alabama to Texas.
I’ve tried gumbo made with shrimp, (head on or off) chicken, sausage, fish, scallops, clams, oysters, and crabmeat. The shrimp heads give the gumbo a stronger, more flavorful flavor. Vegetables such as onions, bell peppers, okra, parsley, celery, garlic, and tomatoes are added to these ingredients.
In addition to all this, there are spices like bay leaf, garlic, thyme, salt, ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, lime powder, Creole seasoning, chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, Old Bay seasoning, Cavender’s Greek seasoning, crab boil. and tomato sauce. Some chefs leave out chicken and pork.
From what I have seen and tasted along the coast, I have found that there is no standard gumbo recipe. Some seaside chefs make their own with chicken. Other cooks would have to be threatened with bodily harm to put a bird in their soup, using scallops instead. On the New Orleans waterfront, many put sausage in theirs, but not just any sausage. It seems every chef uses a particular brand and I wouldn’t dream of using another!
If all gumbos have one thing in common, it’s that they all have a roux. This pronounced roo and they all seem to be pretty much alike; made with flour and oil, shortening, pork fat or bacon. Some say to cook the mixture until it turns a brownish color and others like to see it a lighter shade. Whatever the color, the roux’ is the basic element in a perfect gumbo, giving it a texture. Without it, your fish, scallops, or shrimp would just be swimming in hot water.
No two gumbos taste the same, even when made by the same chef. While in Pensacola, Florida, I found a seafood grill near Orange Beach, Ala, that had a delicious spicy seafood gumbo that smelled so good your mouth watered when you walked into the room. My nose wasn’t bad! The gumbo was out of this world. After a huge bowl I was full! I left the place promising to return soon.
After fishing for most of the next day, I had to make a trip back to the gumbo grill that I had visited the day before. Knowing that the anticipation is half the fun of most anticipated events, I was looking forward to lunch at the gumbo grill. The server came out of the kitchen with my bowl of gumbo and I didn’t even wait for my stew to cool before dipping my spoon into it.
My taste buds are not dumb; They instantly knew they were friends! This was not the same taste as the day before! I immediately asked for the chef, whom I had met the day before and complimented him on a wonderful dish, so I expected more applause as he approached me.
“What happened?” I cried. “This is not the same flavor as yesterday!”
“I did it the same way.” he said something defensive.
“Are you sure it’s the same recipe?” I asked.
“What recipe?” he asked her while looking at me like I was crazy!
He assured that since he had made seafood gumbo every day for several years, he always did it the same way. He admitted that he could have used a little more of this and a little less of that. Whatever it was, the gumbo was not the same.
He confided in me that this method of preparing seafood gumbo was the way most restaurants up and down the coast did it. He didn’t know anyone who wrote the recipe since most other cooks had been making the stew the same way for years. The gumbo was not the same as before but it was still good!
I have given up trying to make gumbo myself, because none of my flavors tasted edible. If you want to try it yourself, search the internet for seafood gumbo recipes. You will find more than you could copy in your life. Do like me and make it a big part of your next seaside vacation and hunt for the perfect gumbo!