Fried Gumbo
Cut up two young chickens, and fry in skillet; when brown but not scorched, put in a pot with one quart finely chopped okra, four large tomatoes, and two onions chopped fine; cover with boiling water, boil very slowly, and keep the kettle tightly closed; add boiling water as it wastes, and simmer slowly three hours; season with salt, pepper, and a little butter and flour rubbed together; serve with boiled rice. -Mrs. J. H. S.
A straightforward chicken-and-okra stew, thickened by the okra itself rather than by roux or filé. Two adjustments carry most of the weight: the frying fat and the three-hour simmer.
- The birds"Two young chickens" would have been small spring birds, likely around 2 lb each. One 4 lb chicken cut into eight or ten pieces is a workable modern equivalent; keep the skin on for the browning.
- Fry in whatThe original names no fat; lard or bacon drippings would have been the usual choice in a Southern kitchen. Use a few tablespoons of lard, bacon fat, or a neutral oil, brown in batches so the pieces sear rather than steam, and carry the fond into the pot with a splash of the boiling water.
- A quart of chopped okraRoughly 1 lb of fresh pods, trimmed and sliced. Frozen cut okra works and is often better than tired fresh pods; it will not need thawing before it goes in.
- TomatoesFour large tomatoes, peeled and chopped; call it 1 1/2 to 2 lb. A 28 oz can of whole tomatoes, crushed by hand, substitutes out of season.
- Three hours is too longSkillet-browned chicken pieces are tender in 45 minutes to an hour of slow simmering, and the okra collapses entirely well before three hours. Cook until the meat pulls easily from the bone, then taste; if you want the long-cooked depth, pull the chicken out at an hour and return it at the end.
- Keep it barely movingThe tight lid and "boil very slowly" are the point. A hard boil shreds the chicken and turns the okra to slime rather than a silky body; hold it at the faintest tremble.
- The butter-and-flour finishThis is beurre manié, not a roux: rub about 1 tbsp softened butter into 1 tbsp flour, drop it in in pieces, and stir until it dissolves and the liquid thickens. Give it five minutes of simmering so the flour loses its raw taste.
- YieldServes six over rice. Allow about 1 cup cooked long-grain rice per person, spooned into wide bowls with the stew ladled over.
Gumbo entered American print through Louisiana, where the word itself is generally traced to a West African term for okra (Bantu ki ngombo), the vegetable that gives the dish both its name and its body. The Dixie Cook Book, compiled in the 1880s from contributed Southern receipts, prints several gumbos, and this one belongs to the older okra-thickened family rather than the dark-roux or filé styles that later came to dominate New Orleans cooking. The title is a little misleading: nothing is fried but the chicken, and the frying is there to build flavor before the long, closed-pot simmer. The initials at the end are typical of the book's method, which is why the same volume can offer quite different gumbos without troubling to reconcile them.