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People always ask the Creoleman for the secret to good creole cooking. The things necessary for delicious creole food can't be rolled in a single wrapper. A good creole cook follows a number of tried and proven methods to produce the final product, sometimes adding or subtracting as the mood or environment demands. Cooking good food involves a number of things that go together like the ingredients of a good gumbo. The first thing is that a good cook loves to cook. And a creole food cook has to love cooking even more than that. You have to enjoy seeing people happy and passing a good time. You may not like the person personally, but you do like to see him or her enjoy your food. To cook Creole you have to interact with the food while cooking. Creole cooking is a personal thing, so get personal with it. Smell the food, stir it, look at it, taste a little bit of it. Learn what flavor of taste the various seasonings bring and use them to highlight and peak the taste of your food. Don't over do it though. "Spicy does not mean too hot to eat". That's not what Creole and Cajun cooking is about.
When making a 2½-2¾ gallon pot of gumbo, I normally use about half a pint jar of roux. That comes out to about a cup (8ozs) in 2½-2¾ gallons of water. You can put cool roux in the fridge and keep it a long time. I like to put mine into pint (16oz) jars like a canning jar or small clean mayonniase jar. It keeps a long time. Put the jars in the fridge and you'll be roux ready. |
Just like water is necessary for life, Roux is necessary for Creole cooking. Roux is used to thicken and flavor the Creole stews, gumbos, and sauces. Making roux can sometimes turn into a mini social event in itself. Friends will often come over and visit with you while you're making a roux. Put some Zydeco music on the box and open the windows. A couple of cold beers and a Cuban Cigar
Ingredients and Tools:
I can remember eating many a piece of roux from a saucer in the refrigerator when coming home late at night after too many beers at one of the honky tonks. The chunks of roux looked just like chunks of fudge candy. Once I bit into it, I knew the difference. Sometimes I think momma put it like that on purpose. |
Measure out equal amounts of oil and flour. One cup oil, one cup flour. You can use either white or whole wheat flour. Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet till it's about 400°. Slowly and gently add the flour to the hot oil; stirring as it's added. Add more flour a little at a time until it's all added. Constantly stir the mixture. This is the critical step in making roux. The constant stirring is absolutely necessary to keep the roux from burning. Burned roux will make your food taste like burned roux. There is no set time for roux to cook. Just remember that what you're basically doing is stir frying the flour. Keep the heat hot and keep the wooden spoon stirring. As the roux begins to darken, it may be necessary to raise the heat slightly. If there's oil on top, either add a little flour or leave it be. The oil can be poured off after the roux sits and cools. When the roux is the color of dark fudge or a Hershey bar it's done. Immediately remove the pot from the heat source. If desired, chopped onions can be added at this point. The roux will retain enough heat to saute the onions without putting the pot back on the burner. Add roux a little at a time when using it in recipes. If you're making a big pot of gumbo you can add more at a time. Too little roux and your dish will taste weak (watery). Too much roux will make dishes too thick and the roux taste can overpower. I like the taste as you go method.
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