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Still on a dubious search for a gumbo that I actually like, I tried another new recipe tonight. This time, no okra, which is fine with me. I’m sure “real” gumbo is thick with okra, but when I made gumbo in the crock pot a couple of weeks ago, I would have been better off to (a) leave out the okra altogether, and (2) add some major heavy seasoning, to give the stuff some flavor. When the rice provides the tang to a dish, you know you should add something spicy.
So I found a recipe in Rachael’s magazine for Poor Man’s Gumbo. This one is made in a skillet, not the crock pot. It’s made with canned tuna, so it’s obviously as faux as faux can be, while still maintaining the essence of gumbo-ness. It’s made with celery, onion, tomatoes and jalapeños. I had all of those things in the pantry and refrigerator days ago, but I didn’t have filé powder. I didn’t even know what filé powder was, or what it looked like, or where in the market to find it.
Filé powder, it turns out, is ground sassafras leaves. It’s not something you cook with; it’s something you stir into the gumbo after you take it off the heat. After searching through most of my regular grocery stores and not having any luck, I was almost ready to try the gumbo without the filé powder, but today I hit a new market that has just opened on my side of town. It’s only the third store in this family-owned business, and it turns out to be a purveyor of filé powder and many other delicacies not to be found at the big chains.
And it also turns out that gumbo isn’t gumbo without filé powder. It is the essential ingredient, although I could have still used a few more pungent spices to give the gumbo a bit more flavor. You’d think that jalapeños and fire-roasted tomatoes and actual filé powder would be enough, but I’ll be experimenting when I reheat it for leftovers. My spice cabinet is loaded with stuff, and there has to be something that will make my gumbo pop. With zing. It needs zing to pop. |
