Encyclopedia of African American History

Herskovits, Melville  205

Acadian or Cajun gumbos are arguably the more rustic of

the two schools of cookery. Cajuns, the descendants of exiled

French refugees from Nova Scotia, Canada, began to settle

in the swamps and bayous of southern Louisiana during

the mid-18th century. Native Americans introduced them

to much of the wild game and vegetation of their habitat,

and German settlers passed along sausage-making and cur-

ing techniques that Cajuns adapted to make culinary staples

such as andouille and boudin sausages and tasso ham. Cajun

gumbos are generally characterized as having a darker roux

and a tendency to use gumbo fi lé instead of okra.

Creole culinary traditions originated in the kitchens

of New Orleans’ elite owner classes during the early 1700s,

where meals were expertly prepared by Creole housewives

and African slave-cooks. As adaptations of classical Span-

ish, Italian, and French recipes (such as bouillabaisse),

Creole gumbos are indebted to German butchery and

sausage-making techniques as well as to West Indian, Na-

tive American, and African produce and cooking methods.

Lighter roux and the use of okra are sometimes characteris-

tic of (but not exclusive to) Creole gumbos.

Contemporary Creole cookery is especially indebted

to African Americans, the descendants of enslaved Africans

who continue to refi ne and develop the cuisine. Gumbo

Zhèbes, a stew of fresh spring greens seasoned with salt

pork or ham, is also attributed to Creole cooks.

See also: Black Folk Culture; Jambalaya

Lori Baptista

Bibliography

Bower, Anne L., ed. African American Foodways: Explorations of

History and Culture. Champaign and Urbana, IL:: University

of Illinois Press, 2007.

Hearn, Lafcadio. La Cuisine Creole: A Collection Of Culinary Reci-

pes from Leading Chefs and Noted Creole Housewives, Who

Have Made New Orleans Famous for Its Cuisine ( 1 885).

Whitefi sh, MT: Kessinger Publishing, 2008.

McKee, Gwen. Th e Little Gumbo Book. Brandon, MS: Quail Ridge

Press, 1986.

Th orne, John, with Matt Lewis Th orne. Serious Pig: An Ameri-

can Cook in Search of His Roots. New York: North Point

Press, 1996.

Herskovits, Melville

Melville Jean Herskovits (1895–1963) was an anthro-

pologist and folklorist noted for constructing a model of

Wood, Peter H. Black Majority: Negroes in Colonial South Car-
olina from 1670 through the Stono Rebellion. New York:
Norton, 1974.

Gumbo

Th e hearty stew known as gumbo is considered a hallmark
of New Orleans cuisine and is also quite popular in the Gulf
Coast region of the United States. Gumbo can be attrib-
uted to Spanish, English, German, Italian, French, Native
American, West Indian, and African cultural and culinary
infl uences that converged as a result of waves of European
settlement of the American South, the transatlantic slave
trade, and intermarriage.
Th e word “gumbo” or “gombo” is of West African ori-
gin, ascribed to the Bantu word for okra and “kombo,” the
word for sassafras leaf used by the Choctaw, Chetimache,
and Houma Indians who once populated southern Loui-
siana in great numbers. Okra was transported to the New
World along with African slaves; sassafras was native to the
coastal regions of the American South and introduced to
settlers by the Native Americans. Both ingredients function
as thickening agents within the dish; okra is added during
the cooking process, whereas gumbo fi lé (ground sassafras
leaves) is sprinkled on top of a dish aft er it has been pre-
pared and is ready to be served.
Th ere are an infi nite number of recipes and varieties of
gumbos: seafood, wild game, chicken, and andouille sausage
are a few of the more popular varieties. Th e stew is alter-
nately attributed to Cajun and Creole culinary traditions.
Gumbos traverse the two cuisines and rely on the availability
of local ingredients as well as the innovative spirit, skill, taste
preferences, and historical memory of the cook. Although
there are few hard and fast rules about gumbos, most gum-
bos are accompanied by rice and do include some variation
of the following basic ingredients: Roux, a classical French
technique and base for thickening soups and stews, roux is
comprised of a mixture of equal parts fl our and fat (usually
butter, lard, or oil). It is constantly stirred and cooked over
medium heat until it reaches the desired color (light, me-
dium, or dark) and the raw taste of the fl our is cooked off.
Stock or broth, usually chicken or seafood, to which the roux
is added; and trinity, a combination of equal parts diced bell
pepper, onion, and celery that provides a fl avor base.