I once invited myself in on a Cajun Gumbo cooking lesson presented by an authentic Louisianian. Do you know what gumbo is? They make it in that awesome Disney adaptation of the Princess and the Frog. It's like gravy soup. With lots of vegetables, especially okra for its thickening agency, a strong stock, and we added shellfish, chicken, and sausage. We served it over rice, it was a hearty meal.
What I learned the most in that lesson was how to make a really decent roux. Roux is the cooked mixture of flour and fat used as a base for lots of creamy soups and sauces. The process of scraping the flour through the fat cooks the flour, creating both colour and flavour, just like toasting bread. It has to be scraped quickly or it will burn. During the gumbo making lesson, we made a huge quantity and practiced trying to scrape it all off the bottom of the pan in a few quick movements, over and over again.
It's all a matter of having patience, if you add the liquid too early, your sauce will be floury and probably lumpy. Now, every time I need to make a roux, I remember my gumbo lesson. What a privilege, I'm glad I pushed on in.
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