INGREDIENTS
Gumbo is my first love, all my love in one pot. A culmination of New Orleans’ history, the Germanic settlers who brought their spicy andouille sausage, the fishermen from the Canary Islands who furnished crabs, the Trinity, the House Spice, the Shrimp Stock. It is the first dish I learned how to make, start-to-finish, working through the stations of mise-en-place. Of course, for me back then, I simply experienced that as time spent in the kitchen with my mom and sister, stirring the roux until it darkened. I’m from a family of cooks; each relative has his or her dish. Uncle Herm is Shrimp Etouffee. Papa Winston is Curried Goat. Grandma Cassie is Chitlins. Tatiana’s cheesecake. and my mom has this. She’s so damn good at it -- and the ingredients so expensive for us growing up -- that she made seafood gumbo as a literal gift for my sister and I on Christmas. Better than any Playstation game, we ate it Christmas morning and for the next few days as the gumbo got better and better with age.
Ingredients