Alrighty yall, it's almost time! I'd like to start out with a little historical context; in this sense, I am like the people I despise the most (food bloggers). HOWEVER I try to limit that and provide a bit of context for my personal anecdotes (which I ALSO try to limit).

With that in mind, a short history of gumbo.

Gumbo, much like the state of Louisiana, is a bit of a metaphor for the cultural influences that shaped it (both the state and the dish).

Louisiana was founded first by French settlers, who then lost it to the Spanish in the 7 Years War (aka The French and Indian war for those of you in the States). The Spanish, ultimately, gave it back to Napoleon as part of the Treaty of San Ildefonso. Napoleon, seeking to raise funds for war, sold it to the Americans.

So now you have not only American settlers, French Settlers (including those expelled from Acadia, who would go on to become Louisiana's Cajun population), and Spanish Settlers, but also a good mix of German Settlers for good measure. The German Settlers are important, because they brought their sausage-making expertise to the equation.

Every single one of these settlers at some point dealt with the native population of the Mississippi River (specifically the Choctaw, Cherokee, and Alabama tribes), who were well-versed in using the native plant life in their dishes.

Finally, we have African slaves, and specifically West-African slaves, who used okra in a lot of their dishes, and brought that with them as they were forced into servitude in the South.

The word Gumbo itself is derived from the Choctaw word for filé, "kombo", which is powdered sassafras leaf, often used as a gumbo thickener.

There are roughly three ways to thicken a gumbo: a roux (the traditional French way), okra, and filé powder. Typically, you're not going to use a combination of the three, but you can use a combination of roux/okra or roux/filé.

There are also two types of gumbo (and a third, made mostly from vegetables, which I've never tried to make nor had, so I can't speak for it): sausage and chicken, or seafood.

Seafood gumbo is arguably much more labor intensive, and my great-grandmother's recipe is great. That being said, I don't have all day to peel crab and cook shit, so I'm going with sausage and chicken, specifically chicken and andouille gumbo.

Additionally, I'll be doing a roux/okra method, which is a personal favorite since I do have a little time on my hands.

Roux is a method of slowly cooking equal parts fat and flour, so they don't burn but instead create a dark, nutty-flavored thickening agent. Honestly I've only ever really used a blonde roux (i.e. cooked for a short amount of time) to make Mac & Cheese at home, so I don't know what other applications aside from gumbo a dark roux has.

Gumbo is usually a sunday tradition at my parents' place; last weekend my stepdad sent me a picture of them making gumbo since the Saints weren't playing. Much like red beans and rice on a monday, taking the day to simmer a pot of gumbo is not actually a stereotype, but an actual factual thing our family did.

I'll be cutting up some veggies before I start making the roux, so I'll be afk for a few, just so I can focus on making the roux and posting without ALSO needing to chop. See yall in a few!

So here we are ready to roll! I have my roux, equal parts vegetable oil and all-purpose flour. I'm using about a cup of each in this recipe. Also pictured is my mom's roux spatula; you'll see that looks like two pieces of different colored wood toward the edge of the spatula, but these are actually two different colored pieces of clay. You can use these clay pieces to compare to your room to see how dark it is and how dark you want it.

This bad boy is going to be stirred pretty much constantly for about the next 20 minutes. What's going to happen is the flour will slowly cook down (it is important not to have the heat to high otherwise it will burn).

This is also the first time I'm cooking gumbo on this stove, so I'm having to adjust a little bit temperature wise. So far so good though.

The Flash made it look a lot lighter than it actually is. Here's a better picture.

Approaching a nice peanut butter color now, and this kitchen smells a bit like a fish fry. However we want to go a little bit darker. Typically we're looking for close to the color of chocolate

ALMOST THERE

I promised to deliver high quality content, so enjoy me adding the trinity+pope (celery, bell pepper, onion, + garlic) to this roux

Gonna let this wilt for about 5-10 minutes, then add some andouille

We've got andouille, we've got okra, we've got a sweaty roux. We've got Bay leaf, and now chicken stock. Gonna let this boil then reduce to a simmer for an hour before we start the next step.

@dubsteppenwolf haha understandable. I try not to do it often but @realmaxkeeble says I am Paul Prudhomme reborn so the bit is I can only cook my hometown dishes.

I try to throw a bit of food history and person history in there too :D

@StarArcady Thank you! I try hahaha :D