“Seafood Gumbo”
It was a winter morning in Louisiana, too warm for snow, but still too cold to leave the comfort of my bed. Suddenly, a rush of excitement ran through my body as a familiar scent lingered into the room. Momma’s Seafood Gumbo. Ever since I was a child, I have always loved waking up to the strong scent of my family’s own gumbo.
Seafood gumbo has been in my family as far back as I can trace it. Gumbo originated in Louisiana and can be found in the southern United States and up through the Carolinas. It is a stew or soup that has a very rich and dark consistency. My favorite thing about gumbo is that you will never find two dishes exactly alike no matter how many times you eat it. Inside this truly Louisiana dish, there are many options for the meat or main filler. My favorite being the seafood style but I also enjoy chicken, sausage, and smoked pork. Next, the holy trinity to Cajuns is added: bell pepper, celery, and onion. When it comes to the sauce, my family never uses tomatoes like classic Creole cooking, but instead a dark roux. After the gumbo is cooked for eight hours, it is poured over white rice. This can be a meal entirely by itself, but nothing tastes better than a side of potato salad. Another side dish popular in New Orleans is French bread for dipping, or sweet potatoes. When walking through New Orleans it is very apparent that Gumbo has the ability to grab anyone by the nostrils and lead them straight for the restaurant, or in my case, to the kitchen.
In my house during Gumbo day, it is an untold ritual to skip breakfast and any snacks prior to lunch to save as much room to eat gumbo as possible. My mother’s sacrifice of waking up at six in the morning will soon be worth every second of sleep missed. I enjoy my seafood gumbo slow at first, or at least I attempt to. I like to take a bite of rice and try to get pieces of each sea creature on my spoon. I soon find it impossible with the shrimp, crawfish, crab, oysters, and bits of lobster not willing to all be stacked at once. I settle with the jumbo shrimp. After a few more mind blowing bites it is time to try the potato salad. One bite scooped on the spoon and dunked into the dark, soupy mixture is then engulfed. This is where the adventure begins. Praying that when you dunk, you have a seabit stuck to the side of the potato salad. My luck prevails this time!
When I go to a restaurant and see GUMBO on the menu I first hesitate before ordering. I know that even though it will be wonderful, it will not be as delicious as my family’s. I have had other variations that taste almost as dark and rich as my mother’s, but lack the authenticity. You may have too little or too much rice that can kill the mood of the gumbo or just not enough spice. Although some may seem displeasing, I almost always order the crazy combinations. Alligator, rabbit, and duck with oysters are only some of the few you can find in New Orleans that will surely make you leave with a crooked smile on your face.
To me, seafood gumbo is the one true meal for my family and its legacy. Perfected over many generations of Neveus, it is now a masterpiece that can be passed down without further correction. Whenever I eat it, I dream about Louisiana and all of the regional activities and sports found in the swamps. Every Cajun member of my family loves the outdoors and is addicted to golfing and fishing. If I close my eyes when taking a big bite I am immediately transported to my grandpa’s fishing boat or my uncle’s golf cart at the Abbeville Country Club. My 84 year old great grandma has many stories of gumbo in her past. She always tells her grandkids of her and her father going to “da crawfish pand” to get her seafood the freshest way they knew how, by hand. One tradition still rich in Cajun parts of Louisiana is the famous gumbo party. A gumbo party is when all your friends get together with a different style of gumbo cooked and ready for each person to judge the entries. Usually these parties are during big events such as a football game or around mardi gras. Whenever thrown, they are always a great time for family and friends to get together and enjoy terrific food. One of these parties particularly sticks out in my mind. My grandpa and I went fishing the day before the sacred event and we caught over twenty speckled trout. The next day I helped him prepare our rendition of the classic seafood gumbo before the party. After all the judging from our friends and family it was clear that we were the champions. When my grandpa heard the news he announced to everyone “Shoot, Nick caught all the fish, all I did was make the sauce!”
Like the trout and other seafood cooked together in the gumbo, the French and Cajun cultures were assimilated together into the United States of America, mainly in Louisiana. Each seafood represents a different culture all cooked together to create one delicious product, the United States. When my distant ancestors came to the U.S. we had tradition, pride, and a different last name. A fellow Cajun priest changed the name of my great, great grandfather from Neveaux to Neveu. Gumbo can also be related to this by the changing of its ingredients over time to better suit the county and area it is eaten in.
In conclusion, gumbo is my heritage, youth, and absolute favorite thing to eat. It is a truly changing and developing dish cooked in the bayou and brought to the U.S. kitchens. When it gets cold again, I can go to sleep anxious and hoping that in the morning I will be awaken by the powerful, always delightful scent of seafood gumbo.
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