Happy National Gumbo Day!

[The_Doc_Man]

Normally I ignore these "national xxxx day" things, but this one hits close to home. Here in the USA, we can get our congress person to enter a motion to declare a minor holiday. I believe it dates back to former Louisiana senator Allen Ellender.

Today (Oct. 12) is the USA's "National Gumbo" day. "Gumbo" is the anglicized version of ki ngombo which is the West African name for the vegetable okra. The Bambara language is the most likely source of that name, though Bantu also uses that name. The name okra is probably Nigerian coming from okuru, their name for the okra plant.

Gumbo can be found on Wikipedia and several other web sites. For those who don't know what it is, think of a cross between a thick soup and a thin stew. The old forumulas agree - first you make a roux, which involves browning a thick mix of flour and fat and which will become a thickening agent. Your other contributing ingredients are okra, the Cajun "holy trinity" of finely chopped bell peppers, celery, and onions, then some strongly flavored soup stock (which one depends on the main ingredient), add cayenne pepper to taste, and the main ingredient, your protein. For purists, there are two protein combinations that work: EITHER chopped chicken and sausage OR shelled shrimp and crab meat. Cook it down a little but NOT dry. Serve over white rice OR a medium-grain brown rice.

You can look it up online and find LOTS of recipes. For those not accustomed to really spicy soups or stews, remember to use cayenne pepper sparingly. Otherwise the result will be inedible.

Bon apetit!

 

[Isaac]

Thanks Doc, I have only tried this I think one time before and it was so many years I forgot what my impression of it was. I will have to try it again sometime when I am in a restaurant. !

 

[Pat Hartman]

I hate Okra. It is just slimy and disgusting. Apparently you need to cook it twice to get rid of the slime. But it is pretty tasteless so gumbo is actually good

 

[Isaac]

I hate Okra. It is just slimy and disgusting. Apparently you need to cook it twice to get rid of the slime.

I have to admit I have only ever eaten deep fried breaded okra. Which, obviously, tasted fantastic but I'm not sure what real okra by itself tastes like.

 

[ColinEssex]

No thank you. Gumbo sounds horrible. Not something we have in the UK. I'll stick to fish and chips please.
Col

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Col, I'm not even insulted. Not everyone likes Cajun cooking. Pat's reaction, for example, is not unusual. My mother's family in central Alabama is split on my wife's gumbo, since cayenne pepper is something their local cuisine doesn't use much at all. However, in south Louisiana the non-seafood version is quite popular and the seafood version is practically a staple dish. Most seafood restaurants will serve it at least as an appetizer.

As to how much okra is in it? Doesn't have to be a lot. The dish isn't like "stewed okra" - which is also a popular dish in bayou country. I'm not a fan of stewed okra myself, though my dad loved it. It's a texture thing. It IS theoretically possible to make a thick, gumbo-like stew that has everything but the okra and serve THAT over rice. But purists won't call that gumbo, since the name MEANS "okra."

The secret of gumbo is that it is a Creole recipe that came into existence prior to the existence of refrigeration. So you killed some chickens and cooked them, but you might have had left-overs. OR you killed a hog and made some sausage. If you didn't finish them off right away, they would slowly begin to go bad. So to use up the marginal leftovers before they got totally nasty, the poor families wouldn't throw it away, they would re-boil it with cayenne pepper to hide the taste of the marginal ingredients (and incidentally sterilize it, though I doubt that was specifically on their minds.) The same is true for jambalaya, another dish to "absorb" the less-than-fresh ingredients for which the slightly gamy taste could be hidden by the pepper. Of course, these days with refrigeration, that problem no longer applies. But the updated version of the recipe lives on.

A friend of mine used to own a small restaurant about 30 miles up-river from where I used to live before I got married. His house is across the road from the Mississippi River levee. He's out of the restaurant business now (sold the business and retired), but every year at Christmas he makes a "hunter's gumbo." Instead of chicken, he might use duck. Instead of hog sausage, he might use venison-based sausage. If I recall correctly, there isn't that much okra in the mix. Talk about a rich, meaty flavor! I always look forward to my friend Glen's Christmas gumbo. But he swears that despite there being venison in the mix, he doesn't shoot Santa's reindeer.

 

[Isaac]

Uhh, fish and chips - I almost threw up after the 2nd time of getting fatty, 3000-fat-calorie deep fat fried fish and french fries, or "chips" with mayonnaise in the UK. I do have bad habits, but most are not quite that bad food-wise. I'd rather a burger with the fries any day!

 

[ColinEssex]

Col, I'm not even insulted.

(note to self) must try harder. BTW never heard of ocra.

Isaac - you went wrong with the mayonnaise, don't bother with that French rubbish, tomato sauce and loads of it, and a slice of buttered bread for a chip buttie. (Chip sandwich for the uninitiated)
Col

 

[Isaac]

I don't mind saying that I'm actually starting on tirzepatide day after tomorrow, it's supposed to help with weight loss and food cravings, I'll let you know how it goes. definitely no more (anything) deep-fat-fried for me. I do like buttered bread. I now try to remember to buy the healthier breads, we hvae something here called Ezekiel bread that is much healthier than standard white or enriched wheat flour bread, so I try to stick to that. Then my family likes a butter called Kerrygold butter, although I think it is kind of a rip off for a minor taste change

 

[The_Doc_Man]

@ColinEssex

Okra is a plant that I believe originated in East Africa. Its seeds were used as decorations in the hair of women brought over as slaves from there as early as the 1650s, though Moorish conquest of the (current) Sudan region caused the plant to be known in the northern Mediterranean in the early 1200s.. The seeds grow in tropical and warm/wet climates, which means south Louisiana is prime territory for them.

Okra - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[ColinEssex]

I don't mind saying that I'm actually starting on tirzepatide day after tomorrow, it's supposed to help with weight loss and food cravings, I'll let you know how it goes. definitely no more (anything) deep-fat-fried for me. I do like buttered bread. I now try to remember to buy the healthier breads, we hvae something here called Ezekiel bread that is much healthier than standard white or enriched wheat flour bread, so I try to stick to that. Then my family likes a butter called Kerrygold butter, although I think it is kind of a rip off for a minor taste change

Kerrygold is Irish butter, very expensive here. I'll confess I don't have butter, I have a buttermilk spread from sainsbury's. The word 'butter' refers to any butter like spread on bread.
Fish and chips, yes, are deep fried in oil and are coated in batter, yes if eaten regularly can kill you. The cod is straight from the North Sea but expensive. It used to be a cheap meal but now is expensive.
Being a not far off 80 year old pensioner, (last week was my birthday) I can't afford it too often and I've already had one heart attack, but our local chip shop does a pensioner special, half price fish and chips, so I indulge every so often as a treat. I only have my pension to live on so have to watch the pennies.
Tirzepatide is an antidiabetic medication for type 2 diabetes, a side effect can also in some cases assist with weight loss. It is administered subcutaneously.
Col

 

[AccessBlaster]

Happy belated Birthday Col

 

[ColinEssex]

Happy belated Birthday Col

Ahhh, thanks.
Col

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Col, Happy Birthday to you.

I understand the need for the diabetic meds. I'm not on insulin but I am on metformin. I've been losing weight, now down 40 pounds (USA measure) from my highest body weight and still struggling to lose more. Can't take the drugs that assist in weight loss because of my wonky liver that would be negatively affected by the drugs in the semaglutide family. I'm sensitive to such things these days.

Oddly enough, depending on how well it is drained, I can still eat fried foods in moderation. Oily foods give me a digestive upset, but believe it or not, Popeye's Fried Chicken very rarely affects me. But another chain, Brother's Fried Chicken, almost sets my digestion on edge based on odor alone. The Colonel's chicken is hit-or-miss in that regard.