The interesting thing about New Orleans gumbo is that nobody can really say exactly what it is because there are many different gumbo styles out there. For example, some people prefer seafood in their gumbo while others prefer chicken and sausage. Elizabeth Pierce, Senior Curator at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum in New Orleans, says that the way you learn how to cook gumbo is from your particular family recipe passed down to you.
New Orleans’ Chef Leah Chase says, “It may be different, but it will all taste good. We are even a gumbo of people here. We’re a mixture of people, we mix our food and we just live happy.”
The key to a great gumbo is to cook it with passion and love for the food and those you will be sharing it with. And patience is needed when cooking it; shortcuts should not be taken. New Orleans gumbo is the perfect representation of how The Big Easy is different from anywhere else in the south.
