Celebrate National Gumbo Day!
This October, we’re ladling up Louisiana pride with one of the state’s most beloved and time-honored dishes – gumbo. With National Gumbo Day being celebrated this month (on October 12), there’s no better time to grab a spoon and celebrate the hearty, soulful stew that’s been bringing families and communities together here in Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou for generations.
While gumbo often gets mentioned in the same breath as jambalaya – another Louisiana favorite – the two are deliciously different. Gumbo is a rich, slow-simmered stew with a roux base, often filled with chicken, sausage, seafood or (best of all) a combo of all three. It’s served over rice, not cooked with it (that’s jambalaya’s claim to fame). And though both dishes share Cajun and Creole roots, gumbo’s depth of flavor and endless variety make it a true symbol of our culinary heart.
In Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou, gumbo is more than comfort food, it’s a cultural necessity that stretches back generations. Every family has its own recipe and no festival or community gathering feels complete without a bubbling pot of gumbo to bring people together. The slow, careful art of stirring the perfect roux is practically a rite of passage in families. “What sets southern Louisiana gumbo apart from the rest of the state is variety,” says Chef Anthony Goldsmith, owner/operator of Kajun Twist. “You have many families up and down the bayou cooking gumbo how their ancestors cooked it. Our family cooks gumbo the same as our matriarch, Alzina Toups … without a roux. Go a street over and that family will be cooking with a heavy roux. There’s no bad gumbo down the bayou.”
So this National Gumbo Day, we invite you to celebrate the dish that defines Louisiana comfort food. Whether you’re stirring up your grandma’s roux at home, ordering a bowl from a local restaurant or sampling different recipes at one of our many fall festivals (hint, hint), there’s no wrong way to enjoy a good gumbo. After all, down the bayou, every pot tells a story and every story tastes just a bit different.
