My former neighbor, Gracie, was a New Orleans creole transplanted to St. Louis. When she made gumbo, it was a two-day event, beginning with a couple hours spent smoking chicken and sausage on the grill outside. Gracie's gumbo is unparalleled, and I am not suggesting that a shortcut with a mix could reproduce a real N'Orleans gumbo. For one thing, purists will point out that true gumbo is cooked separately from the rice it is served with.
But Gracie moved to Phoenix and I still like to eat gumbo. If you do not have generations of creole or cajun blood running through your veins, and you don't have two days to do it right, you can still get acceptable results with commercial rice mixes and frozen vegetable mixtures with one simple trick: Make a good roux.
It's pronounced rue, not to be confused with regret or French streets. It is both a thickener and seasoning. The taste of toasted flour in a good medium or dark roux is the secret cajun/creole flavor.
Roux Ingredients: Oil and Flour
Start with equal parts of oil and flour. I usually use unbleached all-purpose flour, but I have gotten by with whole wheat flour or bleached flour when that's all I had.
Olive oil is my standard. Canola or corn oil are too light. Peanut oil can impart an added nutty flavor, which may fight with or enhance the nuttiness of the toasted flour. You be the judge. I have also added some toasted sesame seed oil to the olive oil on occasion. But the darker sesame oil tends to skew the links between color, temperature, doneness, and taste. It looks more toasted than it is.
An aside: Butter is best for light roux, which is used in making white cream sauces. But butter will burn at the temperatures needed to make a medium or dark roux for gumbo, jambalaya or other cajun dishes.
Cook the roux without any other ingredients. Spices or herbs should be added to the dish separately from the roux. You may, however, add some sauteed finely chopped onion, celery and/or pepper to the roux after it reaches the right color and temperature. This stops the cooking process quickly and sets the color and degree of doneness.
Utensils for Making Roux
Use a heavy pan with high sides. Cast iron is best, but a good heavy steel-clad aluminum also works. I've made roux in a cast-iron skillet, but nearly always ended up with a couple of burns from splashed oil. Paul Prudhomme, author of Louisiana Cooking, calls roux "Cajun napalm." Even experienced cooks can suffer burns. My preference for making a small amount of roux (less than a cup of the finished product) is a one- or two-quart Wearever sauce pan. Don't use a non-stick pan.
Likewise, the spoon is very important. Dark roux can melt nylon or other soft utensils made for non-stick pans. Use a metal spoon with a long, heatproof handle.
Making Roux is Not as Complicated as It Sounds
It's a shortcut, remember? So take care not to get burned, have a little patience, and it's worth the trouble.
Here's one trick: Mix the oil and flour in the saucepan before you start to cook, smoothing out any lumps. Turn the heat on medium high to high. The higher the temperature, the more carefully you have to stir, but the faster it will cook.
The mixture will begin to bubble. This is when you stir and scrape and gentle it, to keep the oil from separating. It will usually begin to darken before that magic moment when the flour expands and it thickens. (More on that later). Keep stirring and watch the color. For seafood gumbo, a rich caramel color is good. For gumbo that includes sausage or ham, keep cooking until it is the color of milk chocolate. Sources are mixed on the best color for chicken, but I tend to prefer darker rather than lighter.
Take care not to burn the flour. If you see black specks before the color darkens, you have to discard that batch and start again.
The Chemical Change that Means the Roux is Ready
You'll be stirring along, the mixture looking like oily, thick cream, and all of a sudden, it will thicken and look sort of grainy (although it's still smooth). This usually happens after it begins to darken, but before you reach the color you want. It's hard to describe -- maybe like the moment when you're stirring fudge and it finally decides to begin to harden -- but once you've seen it, you'll know. Keep stirring to keep the oil from separating until you reach the right color.
When the roux reaches the thickened stage and the desired color, remove it from heat, stir to cool it (or add vegetables), and set it aside until the rest of the dish is ready. Stir before adding.
Recipe for Gumbo with a Mix and Freshly Prepared Roux
- 1 pound chicken breasts or thighs
- 1/2 pound turkey or pork smoked sausage, such as andouille or kielbasa
- 6-8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 package gumbo mix with rice (Zatarain's, Tony Chachere's, Cherchies, or other brand)
- 1 16-oz. package frozen vegetables for gumbo* (I use PictSweet, which includes some seasoning)
- File powder (optional)
- In a large covered pot, cook the chicken parts and sausage in the chicken broth about 15 or 20 minutes. Simmer, don't boil.
- Meanwhile, using the oil and flour, prepare the roux according to instructions above and set aside.
- When the meat is nearly done, lift the large chicken and sausage pieces out of the broth, let cool slightly and cut into bite-size pieces. Return to the pot.
- Add the frozen vegetables to the pot, cover and bring to a boil.
- Add the rice mix and simmer for the length of time on the mix.
- About 10 minutes before the rice and vegetables are done, stir in the roux: Add some gumbo liquid to the roux in the saucepan and stir, then add the mixture to the large gumbo pot.
- Opinions are mixed about whether to have both okra and file in gumbo, as both tend to thicken the broth. The frozen gumbo vegetables include okra, but I usually sprinkle in some file too. If you plan to use file, add it just after the roux.
*If a frozen gumbo vegetable mixture is unavailable, use okra, corn, green pepper, celery and onion. You may also add green beans, lima beans or black-eyed peas.
Seafood Gumbo Variation
Substitute 1 pound of shrimp-in-the-shell (with heads if possible) for the chicken and a can of smoked oysters for the sausage.
- Shell the shrimp and chop off the heads. Set aside the shrimp and add the shells and heads to the broth in a large stock pot.
- Simmer the shells and heads for about 20 minutes.
- Strain the broth into a bowl or pot to remove the shells. Discard the shells and bring the broth back to a simmer in the stock pot.
- Add the frozen vegetables and rice mix and cook as directed.
- Just before adding the roux, add the reserved shrimp and the smoked oysters (including the oil, if desired). Continue the recipe beginning with step 6 above.
Other Uses for Cajun Dark Roux
Besides jambalaya and other cajun dishes, roux sparks up just about any soup or stew. I've developed a pretty good Missouri catfish stew with roux as the secret ingredient. As in the gumbo recipe, add the roux near the end of the cooking process.
Sources:
Paul Prudhomme, Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen, William Morrow and Company Inc., 1984
Cherchies Gumbo with File Seasoning
Virginia Gilbert - A 2007 graduate of Eden Seminary, Gilbert covered education, business and police for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for 27 years.
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