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Gumbo Filee Soup
Wash and slice a quart of okra, cook in a pint of water till tender; while cooking prepare a fowl as for fricassee, and chop 1/4 pound lean ham. Cook a sliced onion in 4 tablespoonfuls olive oil till brown, add the chicken and ham, stir till the chicken is slightly browned, then add a pint boiling water, and simmer till the chicken is perfectly tender. At serving time mix the okra (gumbo) with the chicken; add 50 oysters, drained; bring quickly to a boil. Moisten a tablespoonful of filee powder in a little of the soup, stir it into the whole, and serve. Do not let the soup boil after adding the powder. Salt and pepper to taste.
This is one of the favorites taken from a pet list of Creole recipes.
A Creole gumbo built on okra rather than a roux, thickened at the last moment with filé. The whole dish turns on how the filé and the oysters are handled in the final minute.
- Filé never boilsSassafras filé turns stringy and ropy the moment it hits a rolling boil, which is why the original warns against it. Slake the tablespoon in a ladle of hot broth, stir it in off the heat, and serve within a few minutes.
- The oystersFifty shucked oysters is roughly a quart, though the count per quart varied with size and grade, so treat the quantity as approximate. "Bring quickly to a boil" is really bring quickly to the point of boiling; oysters need only the minute or two it takes their edges to curl, and holding them longer makes them rubbery.
- Oyster liquorDrained oyster liquor is the best seasoning in the pot. Strain it and add a half cup or so with the oysters, then salt at the very end, since both the ham and the liquor are salty.
- "A fowl prepared as for fricassee"A stewing fowl, jointed into serving pieces, skin on. Modern birds are younger and leaner: a 4-5 lb chicken cut into eight will be tender in 45 minutes to an hour rather than the two-plus hours an old fowl demanded.
- LiquidA pint with the okra and a pint with the chicken gives a very thick, stew-like gumbo. You may want an extra pint or two of chicken stock added with the second pint of water, adjusting before the filé goes in.
- OkraA quart of sliced pods is about 1 lb. Boiling it separately in water, as here, keeps its slipperiness out of the main pot until serving; if you prefer less viscosity, brown the slices in a dry pan first.
- The hamQuarter pound of lean ham was likely a dry-cured piece cut from a whole ham rather than sandwich slices. Dice it; the recipe adds it to the pot with the chicken, once the onion has browned.
- YieldServes roughly eight, though the recipe states no yield. It also makes no mention of rice; if you serve it over rice, cook the rice separately and spoon the gumbo over it.