The definition of Gumbo is Okra. It's hard to have gumbo without okra. Without it, it's just chicken or seafood stew.

this.

Yep, I always heard that the word gumbo was derived from an African language word for okra. You don't to put too much okra in your gumbo though. Okra was meant to be fried, not stewed.

I prefer a duck and sausage gumbo. I use the duck carcass to make the stock base for the gumbo. A good dark non-burned roux is the trick. Rouxs come in levels of 1-15. 15 being a brick roux. I would go for somewhere around 10. That's a good rich nutty dark brown. I go with 2:1:1 onion, celery, green bell pepper. Sweat those in butter for a few minutes and then add your roux. Some folks like to just add flour and make the roux that'a way but I find it's just not the right way to do it. You can, if you're looking for a more blonde roux, but for a deeper one you need to do 1:1 oil to flour. Remember, the darker the roux the less thickening ability it will have and in any case it will never thicken until it reaches the boil. After the trinity and the roux I add the duck stock. I use homemade andouille and I slice it up and brown half of it off and then add it and the picked duck meat to the gumbo. I use less cayenne than some like. I used fresh cracked black pepper and salt to taste and a bay leaf (fresh laurel is the best) and roasted garlic -plenty of garlic. Good crusty french bread and you're good to go.

Buying roux in a jar is like cheating on your wife. :-) Don't do it. The roux is the foundation and is not difficult, it just takes lots of patience. My wife might spend 20 or 30 minutes on the roux. For real. But she makes the best "seafood stew" (no okra) I have had.

Can you substitute another pepper like poblano for the green bells ? I can eat all kinds of hot peppers but bells tear my stomach up .

made this one out of smoked turkey, chicken and sausage...

While I was looking for the brunswick stew, I was amused by finding this recipe for gumbo from 1865. You say real gumbo doesn't contain okra or tomatoes? I'm typing this exactly as it appears in the book. Misspellings are not mine but the original author's.

Gumbo
Put one tablespoonful lard into a pan. Slice two onions and fry them in it a few minutes. Have ready a chicken cut up, and fry it in the lard till it slightly browns, also one or two slices of bacon or salt pork, and three or four bunches parsley cut up.
Have a heaping plateful of ochra cut up; put that in the pan and let it wilt a few minutes (you must stir it), then add three or four tomatoes cut up. Then put the whole into a stewpan, pour hot water to it, not quite as much for soup. Let it boil until quite thick. Season with pepper and salt, also red or green pod pepper. It must be dished like soup and eaten with rice; the rice to be boiled dry and served in a vegetable dish; put one or two spoonfuls in a plate and pour the gumbo over it.

Spot on right. No mystery, arcane BS, or secret. It's that simple. Just stir.

Not a clue between those ears.

Okra is the South. Most Yankees dont even know what it is. I don't use it too often though. I always heard the rule don't add okra and file to your gumbo because they are both thickeners. Dunno about that, just have always heard it.

To each his own taste. It is about the roux. Once you get the basics down you can "gumbo" just about anything over rice and have a mouth watering feast. Here lately I've started doing chicken gizzard gumbos. I've done chicken quarters with chicken gizzards and most recently chicken gizzards with sausage and shrimp. Mmmmmm Good! I love chicken gizzards and it's a great way to eat them. I've even served it to people who claim they "don't eat guts" and they've lapped it up. That's the beauty of a gumbo. Start with the basics and then make it what you want or what you have on hand. Laissez les bons temps rouler!

I have some mule deer sausage in the freezer from last year. I'll do that and chicken for gumbo this weekend. I love okra in mine!

I grew up in new Orleans and Worked in the hospitality industry for over 30 years. Okra and tomatoes are definatly a staple in authentic gumbo.

I saw Bobby Fley Do a throwdown with a lady from New Orleans on Gumbo and they both put okra in it and said the word gumbo came from okra,so I guess one you chumps is wrong!!!!

I think roux is the only common ground in gumbo