Chicken gumbo is a New World dish with a mix of Native American, French, Spanish, African, Italian, and German influences. It includes chicken, vegetables, and spices, and is thickened with flour or cornstarch. The recipe has evolved over time, and can be made with easily sourced ingredients. It also freezes well.
Chicken gumbo is a dish that includes the use of dark and white chicken meat along with a selection of vegetables and spices. While gumbo’s origin is usually traced to the Southern Delta region of the United States during the 18th and 19th centuries, there is no agreement on exactly when chicken was first introduced into the basic recipe. The dish is documented to be of New World origin and represents a marriage of the cooking practices of Native Americans, French and Spanish settlers in the region, African slaves transported to the area, and even some innovations later by Italian and German immigrants.
The basic chicken gumbo ingredients call for the use of white and dark meat harvested from a chicken, along with okra potatoes, onions, carrots, and celery. Spices such as garlic, thyme, bay leaves, black pepper, jalapeno and cayenne pepper are used to bring the various flavors together. To thicken chicken gumbo, several recipes call for the use of flour or cornstarch.
The preparation of chicken gumbo has undergone changes over the years. In the past, it wasn’t unusual to boil the whole chicken as the first step in the process. The boiled chicken was removed from the pot and the meat stripped from the carcass. A portion of the broth resulting from the boil was returned to the pot along with the shredded chicken, followed by the vegetables and spices. Once the vegetables were cooked, a thickener such as flour was added until the correct consistency was reached. Additional spices were added as needed to ensure the taste was exactly as the cook intended.
Today, chicken gumbo is most often made using chicken breasts that are baked or broiled, then shredded for inclusion in the dish. The vegetables used can be fresh, canned or frozen and the spices are usually ground versions which are readily available in a supermarket. Modern recipes may call for using a small amount of oil along with flour as a starter, adding chicken stock, and finally cooked chicken, vegetables, and spices. With some recipes, the okra is cooked separately from the other ingredients, then added to the mixture for a short simmering time before the gumbo is considered complete.
While you can purchase canned or frozen chicken gumbo, the relative simplicity of most recipes makes it easy to prepare the dish using easily sourced ingredients from a local market. This allows you to enjoy freshly made chicken gumbo even during times of year when one or more ingredients are not in season. The dish also freezes well, making it easy to prepare the dish during the summer or early fall, freeze the gumbo in different containers and enjoy it during the winter months.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
