Try Gumbo in Louisiana

“The seafood gumbo has a thin tomato based broth. Spicy, less on presentation. More on taste. The spice creeps up on you. The shrimp is a small local fish. It was more what I had long expected of gumbo. Even the chicken and sausage distinguished itself from the monotony of other gumbos. I understand why sausage is so popular: it brings such a richness to the fare and it is complemented with large generous chunks of chicken”

“Our next stop was the Creole House on Canal, where the gumbo was equally brown but with a richer flavored, thicker, and spicier broth. There was some gelatin or other thickener that gave the gumbo more body. The green onion was thickly cut and much more present. Yet, here, there was no sea food at all. I thought seafood was a big part of gumbo. Perhaps I had been wrong all this time?”

“The gumbo is a bit of a surf-and-turf mix with ham, crab and andouille. The flavors are perfectly balanced, and I found myself slurping up the broth by drinking straight out of the Styrofoam container it comes in.”