Mardi Gras Day is this Tuesday, February 21. Ashevillians can parade today (Sunday) at 2 p.m. ~ starts on Wall Street and wraps around down Haywood Street and back around by the Grove Arcade. For those who don’t already know – Mardi means Tuesday, and Gras means Fat – which is why it is also called Fat Tuesday. Fat Tuesday indicates the last day of feasting before you must start fasting during Lent (a period of fasting with the purpose of cleansing yourself, physically and spiritually, to prepare for the celebration of Easter).
If you can’t make it to New Orleans or some other town that celebrates Carnival, you can at least cook up a pot of gumbo. Today’s weather is perfect for blasting some Mardi Gras classics while getting down with some roux on the stove. Since the basis of good gumbo is a good roux, allot at least a half hour to 45 minutes for getting your roux right before proceeding on to the next steps. In other words…relax into it and don’t hurry it. If you make gumbo today, it will be better tomorrow and even better on Mardi Gras Day.
Here is my gumbo recipe (give or take a little), along with some instructions about making good gumbo and making stock:
http://tailgatemarketfanclub.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/seafood-gumbo-recipe/
http://tailgatemarketfanclub.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/cooking-good-gumbo/
http://tailgatemarketfanclub.wordpress.com/2010/03/28/seafood-stock-for-gumbo/
Keep in mind that gumbo is a personal thing – meant to be elaborated on by the cook (that’s you!). Can’t go wrong with lots of onion, green peppers, and celery sautéed into that roux. And remember to wait to throw the more delicate seafood in at the last minute, so it doesn’t get tough. Serve with LOTS of good French bread and butter. And of course (no-brainer), serve gumbo over rice. Gumbo HAS to have rice, or it’s not gumbo.
Here is another recipe and additional advice from Foodista:
http://www.foodista.com/recipe/Z2KPLCN3/jean-s-seafood-gumbo#
This recipe calls for both okra and file…which some consider a really big no-no. And certainly, if file is involved, it is added at the very last. (I don’t know how to add the accent mark, but this word is not “file” as in file cabinet…it is pronounced like fee-lay.)
Note: I would eliminate #11. Why would you want to cool down your gumbo? And why would you want to be messing around with a big heavy pot of hot gumbo in the sink? That sounds like an accident waiting to happen.












