| Every year I take up my soup spoon, adjust my bib | | | | the room. My nose wasn't wrong! The gumbo was out |
| and continue my search for the best tasting seafood | | | | of this world. After a huge bowl I was stuffed! I left the |
| gumbo I can find. It's not an easy job, but I'm up to the | | | | place vowing to come back soon. |
| task again this year. You can find it just about | | | | After fishing most of the next day, I had to make a trip |
| anywhere you can smell the salt in the air. My choice is | | | | back to the gumbo grill I had visited the day before. |
| the gulf coast from Alabama all the way to Texas. | | | | Knowing that anticipation is half the fun of most |
| I've tasted gumbo made with shrimp, (head on or head | | | | awaited events, I was anxiously awaiting lunch at the |
| off) chicken, sausage, fish, scallops, clams, oysters and | | | | gumbo grill. The server came out of the kitchen with |
| crab meat. Heads on shrimp give the gumbo a | | | | my bowl of gumbo and I didn't even wait for my stew |
| stronger and more flavorful taste. Added to these | | | | to cool before I dug in with my spoon. |
| ingredients are vegetable such as onions, bell pepper, | | | | My taste buds are not dumb; they instantly knew that |
| okra, parsley, celery, garlic and tomatoes. | | | | something was amiss! This was not the same taste |
| In addition to all this, there are spices such as bay | | | | as the day before! I immediately asked for the chef, |
| leaves, garlic, thyme, salt, ground black pepper, | | | | whom I had met the day before and congratulated him |
| cayenne pepper, file' powder, Creole seasoning, | | | | on a wonderful dish, so he was waiting for more |
| chicken bouillon, Worcestershire Sauce, Old Bay | | | | applause as he approached me. |
| Seasoning, Cavender's Greek Seasoning, Crab Boil | | | | "What happened?" I cried. "This is not the same taste |
| and ketchup. Some chefs leave out the chicken and | | | | as yesterday!" |
| pork. | | | | "I made it the same way." he said somewhat |
| From what I've seen and sampled along the coast, I've | | | | defensively. |
| discovered that there is no such thing as a standard | | | | "Are you sure it's the same recipe?" I asked. |
| gumbo recipe. Some sea side chefs make theirs with | | | | "What recipe?" he asked as he looked at me like I |
| chicken. Others cooks would have to be threatened | | | | was nuts! |
| bodily harm to put a bird in their soup, using Scallops | | | | He assured that since he had been making seafood |
| instead. On the New Orleans side of the coast, many | | | | gumbo everyday for the last several years, he always |
| put sausage in theirs, but not just any sausage. It | | | | made it the same way. He admitted he could have |
| seems that each chef uses a particular brand and | | | | used a little more of this and a little less of that. |
| wouldn't dream of using anything else! | | | | Whatever it was, the gumbo wasn't the same. |
| If there is one thing that all gumbos have in common, | | | | He confided in me that this method of preparing |
| it's that they all must have a roux. This pronounced roo | | | | seafood gumbo was the way most of the restaurants |
| and they all seem to be pretty much alike; made with | | | | up and down the coast did it. He didn't know anyone |
| flour and oil, vegetable shortening, lard or bacon | | | | who wrote down the recipe since most of the other |
| drippings. Some say to cook the mixture until its copper | | | | cooks had been making the stew the same way for |
| colored and some like to see it a lighter shade. | | | | years. The gumbo wasn't the same as before but it |
| Whatever color, the roux' is the one staple in a perfect | | | | was still good! |
| gumbo, giving it a texture. Without it the fish, scallops or | | | | I have given up trying to make gumbo myself, because |
| shrimp would simply be swimming in hot water. | | | | none of my tasted edible. If you want to try it yourself, |
| No two gumbos taste alike, even when its made by | | | | search on the internet for seafood gumbo recipes. |
| the same cook. While I was in Pensacola, Florida I | | | | You'll find more than you could copy in a lifetime. Do as |
| found a seafood grill close to Orange Beach, Ala that | | | | I do and just make it an important part of your next |
| had a wonderful spicy seafood gumbo that smelled so | | | | ocean side vacation and search for the perfect |
| good your mouth began watering as you walked into | | | | gumbo! |