Is This Really How Gumbo Is Supposed To Look?
A tweet that went viral earlier this week has caused no small amount of concern among folks who are addicted to gumbo.
Tweeting "How gumbo supposed to look..", user @djdommb included a picture he said he found of the Louisiana staple.
Right away, there are some issues that connoisseurs of gumbo will take note of. The mixing of seafood and chicken is one of those social taboos I've seen people get very passionate over. However, while we can all be thankful there are no (visible) tomatoes in this paper bowl, there is a glaring error.
I had missed it at first, and it takes a second to find it, but it's there.
The author of the original tweet says he just "found" the photo, but that he has, in fact, had corn in gumbo before.
"I had it before," he replied to one tweet. "Not bad like you would think."
Traditionally, gumbo is a roux-based stew over rice with some sort of meat - some of the most popular versions include chicken and sausage or various seafood - and cooked for hours in a large pot. While there are some versions that include different ingredients ranging from okra to tomatoes (in the Creole rather than Cajun style), most recipes don't stray too far from tradition.
However, while corn may be extremely questionable in a gumbo, it is far from some of the most horrifying suggestions posted mostly by people not from Louisiana.
Perhaps most famously, Disney put out a video on social media with a "healthy" gumbo that included kale and quinoa. It received such a backlash that Disney removed the video and all references to it.
Potato salad in your gumbo? Absolutely. Tomatoes? Eh, not for me. Corn? Definitely not.
Kale and quinoa? Get out and don't come back.