As we gear up for Thanksgiving, I was wondering how many of you add your own signature style the the traditional Thanksgiving menu? This year I am making Gumbo. Gumbo is a Louisiana staple and a wonderful example of the state's Creole culture. The dish has African, Choctaw Indian as well as Spanish and French origins.
According to Wikipedia: The dish is likely named after two main ingredients, okra or file. In The Bantu language spoken by many of the slaves in West Africa, the vegetable okra was known as ki ngombo or quingombo; the word is akin to the Umbundu ochinggombo and the Tshiluba chinggombo "okra." In the language of the Choctaw people, file, or ground sassafras leaves was called kombo.
I am making a simple shrimp and andouille sausage gumbo that I found in Vertamae Smart Grosvenor's book; Vertamae Cooks In The Americas' Family Kitchen(http://www.amazon.com/Vertamae-Americas-Kitchen-Television-Program/dp/091233388X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1321626633&sr=1-1).
This recipe does not require a roux(a traditional French thickener made from flour) or file powder which is made from sassafras leaves.
Whatever way you chose to make Thanksgiving unique and give expression to your culinary creativity- do so with style!
sounds wonderful, and what an ethnically significant way to celebrate a holiday that originated with an innocent people sharing food so that the strangers would not starve. i have tasted all sorts of gumbo, including my mother's first attempt which was a disaster. she added tooo too much file. foodies know what happened! also, there is a version that originated in the sea islands off the coast of the carolinas and georgia called red gumbo that afro foodies may know about. you can find the recipe in "The Making of Daughters of the Dust" by Julie Dash, foreward by bell hooks. many families added their own particular touches: fresh beef instead of sausages made from pork and later beef hot links made by muslims in the area. i think this one does not use the sassafras leaves (file). i added a pinch to this traditional dish which took me a week of shopping in atlanta to find and buy the very best ingredients and two more days to make it from scratch. i was in love at the time and trying to impress so the effort was well worth the result. i remember danny and asake glover used to make a mean gumbo(not red)in san francisco with oysters added at the last. she had cultural roots in the florida panhandle where oysters are hugely popular and danny had roots in georgia. often you can get a sense of where african americans ancestral beginnings were by their food preferences and preparations. i could talk about food all day. thanks for this book aisha!
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