Photograph by Entrée to Black Paris
Gumbo is a soul-satisfying, deeply flavorful dish that originates from southern Louisiana. It is a cross between a soup and a stew, and Creole and Cajun varieties abound. Monique included her family’s Creole recipe for it in her cookbook, Food for the Soul.
I knew that making gumbo requires great effort because of the time-consuming process of making the roux (stirring flour in fat until it gets the right color). But that was before I met Monique’s cousin, Rozetta Kaufman, who invented a gumbo mix that makes “almost instant gumbo with perfect homemade flavor every time.”
Here’s how you do it: boil water, add the seasoning mix, meat, and okra, and voilà! Easy-peasy.
To make it even easier for me, I asked my wife Monique to make it while I sat back and watched. Here’s how she proceeded:
Photograph by Entrée to Black Paris
First, she sat the ingredients out on the kitchen table. From left to right: okra, chicken wings, gumbo seasoning, Morteau (a smoked sausage from the Franche-Comté region of France), and okra.
Photograph by Entrée to Black Paris
Then, she made the roux by simply adding Rozetta Kaufman’s magic gumbo seasoning to a pitcher of cold water and stirring. Easy-peasy!
Photograph by Entrée to Black Paris
Then, she added the mix to boiling water.
Photograph by Entrée to Black Paris
Then, she added the chicken wings and sliced sausage to the roux.
Photograph by Entrée to Black Paris
Then, she added sliced okra to the chicken, sausage, and roux mix.
Photograph by Entrée to Black Paris
Then, she took a chicken wing and two slices of sausage from the pot, placed them into a bowl containing cooked white rice and ladled roux onto it. And voilà! A delicious bowl of gumbo.
Photograph by Entrée to Black Paris
We thank Rozetta Kaufman for bringing her wonderful Gumbo Everyday Seasoning Mix to our attention. Information about her product can be found at the following link: gumboeveryday.com.
