Every year I grab my soup spoon, 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 have tried the gumbo made with shrimp, chicken, sausage, fish, scallops, clams, oysters, and crab meat. The shrimp heads give the gumbo a stronger and more flavorful flavor. Vegetables such as onions, bell pepper, okra, parsley, celery, garlic and tomatoes are added to these ingredients.
In addition to all of this, there are spices such as bay leaves, garlic, thyme, salt, ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, lime powder, Creole seasoning, chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, Old Bay seasoning, Greek Cavender seasoning, boiled. of crab. and tomato sauce. Some chefs omit the chicken and pork.
From what I’ve seen and tasted along the coast, I’ve found that there is no standard gumbo recipe. Some chefs of the sea 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 side of the coast, many put hot dogs in theirs, but not just any hot dog. It seems that every chef uses a particular brand and would not dream of using something else!
If there’s one thing all gumbos have in common, it’s that they all must have a roux. This pronounced roo and they all seem to be very similar; made with flour and oil, vegetable shortening, lard or bacon fat. Some say cook the mixture until it is a coppery color and some like to see it a lighter shade. Whatever the color, roux ‘is the only staple in a perfect gumbo, giving it some texture. Without it, fish, scallops, or shrimp would just be swimming in hot water.
No two gumbos taste the same, even when made by the same cook. While in Pensacola, Florida, I found a seafood grill near Orange Beach, Ala, that had a wonderful spicy seafood gumbo that smelled so good it made your mouth water as you walked into the room. My nose was not bad! The gumbo was out of this world. After a huge bowl it was full! I left the place promising to return soon.
After fishing 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 anticipation is half the fun of the most anticipated events, I was eagerly awaiting lunch at the gumbo grill. The server came out of the kitchen with my plate of gumbo and I didn’t even wait for my stew to cool before putting the spoon in.
My taste buds are not stupid; They instantly knew something was wrong! This was not the same flavor as the day before! I immediately asked for the chef, whom I had met the day before and congratulated him on a wonderful dish, so I was expecting 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 somewhat defensively.
“Are you sure it’s the same recipe?” I asked.
“What recipe?” He asked while looking at me like I was crazy!
He ensured that since he had been making seafood gumbo every day for the past few 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 wasn’t the same.
He confided to me that this method of preparing seafood gumbo was the way most restaurants along the coast did it. I didn’t know anyone who wrote the recipe since most of the other cooks had been making the stew the same way for years. The gumbo wasn’t the same as before, but it was still good!
I have stopped trying to make gumbo myself, because none of my food tasted edible. If you want to try it for yourself, search the internet for seafood gumbo recipes. You will find more than you could copy in your life. Do what I do and make it an important part of your next seaside vacation and find the perfect gumbo!
