Every Cajun every Creole makes their gumbo a little different from everybody else. You ask 50 people you give 50 different methods they're all about the same. So pay attention. One of the things that I learned from both my grandmas that I watched make gumbo, it starts with a good  andouillecrabducklandnuttyokraoysterspepperrouxsausageseafoodshrimpstockTrinity, the onion celery green  andouillecrabducklandnuttyokraoysterspepperrouxsausageseafoodshrimpstockTrinity , and that nice rich roasted dark cooked roux, that's your main foundation.

You have to have the  andouillecrabducklandnuttyokraoysterspepperrouxsausageseafoodshrimpstockTrinity. There's no way of getting around that deep caramelized  andouillecrabducklandnuttyokraoysterspepperrouxsausageseafoodshrimpstockTrinity flavor my daddy says if you never made a roux you never ever burned one, sooner or later, no matter how good you are, ya end up burning a roux, it happens.

Gumbo is one of those things where you put in the things that you like; we've got that foundation of the  andouillecrabducklandnuttyokraoysterspepperrouxsausageseafoodshrimpstockTrinity , the  andouillecrabducklandnuttyokraoysterspepperrouxsausageseafoodshrimpstockTrinity and the roux but now other flavors are going to marry and Louisiana cooking walks crawl swims flies as we can catch it we use it. When you cook  andouillecrabducklandnuttyokraoysterspepperrouxsausageseafoodshrimpstockTrinity gumbo we're taking some nice gulf  andouillecrabducklandnuttyokraoysterspepperrouxsausageseafoodshrimpstockTrinity then I just like to put the  andouillecrabducklandnuttyokraoysterspepperrouxsausageseafoodshrimpstockTrinity in the shell because that adds such a depth of flavor it's like cooking something on a bone, and we're going to throw in  andouillecrabducklandnuttyokraoysterspepperrouxsausageseafoodshrimpstockTrinity right at the end oh they're gonna be swimming in this goodness...

I never mix  andouillecrabducklandnuttyokraoysterspepperrouxsausageseafoodshrimpstockTrinity animal with sea; if it's going to be crab , add some fish in it I throw some shrimp in it, but never  andouillecrabducklandnuttyokraoysterspepperrouxsausageseafoodshrimpstockTrinity I don't like the cross now that's me and my family. I've seen people put sausage in the shrimp gumbo all the time. Long as your gumbo's good I don't care. For my lamb-based gumbos, I like to use a good smoked  andouillecrabducklandnuttyokraoysterspepperrouxsausageseafoodshrimpstockTrinity sausage the finest of all cajun sausages in my opinion. A winged bird, I've got ducks right here, but you can use chicken turkey wild quail make good gumbo pretty much anything that flies and I like to use  andouillecrabducklandnuttyokraoysterspepperrouxsausageseafoodshrimpstockTrinity meat because it has all the flavor.

Now some folks like to put okra it and filè power to help thicken it when  andouillecrabducklandnuttyokraoysterspepperrouxsausageseafoodshrimpstockTrinity was out of season filè powder filè or okra one or the other not both. Gumbo takes a long enough time to work you would never make it just me sir that doesn't make sense I've never done that all the thousand Gumbo's I made if you get to have people over. - chef! please try!- oh oh....