I love gumbo; not the sticky, smelly,
paste that lies just beneath the wild grasses lying under the unpaved fields around the Bayou City. Rather, I like the dark brown mixture of flour, oil, various vegetables, meat, spices and love that goes
into the making of a good, homemade gumbo. There are few restaurants that are
capable of duplicating this heady brew because of the extreme labor involved in getting the job done right. No, a good gumbo is a true labor of love.
There are many ways
of making a good gumbo and there are a few ways of making a great gumbo. There
are people who like to add things I would rather find in a soup or, in some cases, not find at all. But that is not the point. Everybody who loves gumbo will
tell you that variety is the spice of life.
Some cooks like to
start with a pot of water, a few cans of powdered roux mix, some meat, some vegetables, and a few spices and throw it all
together to cook. Not I! I prefer
to start with my own roux that has been cooked to a “dark penny” brown.
The nutty flavor of a properly prepared roux can never be found in a powder.
Once the roux has reached the proper color, I will add the aromatic vegetables so they will infuse their character
into the mixture. Now I am ready to add my water and spices.
However, this gumbo
is not ready for the meat. Whether I use chicken, sausage, game, or seafood,
I prefer to precook the meat. I don’t want a homogenous blend of meats
boiled to the consistency of overcooked rhubarb. Each bit of meat (or vegetable
if you are making a vegetarian gumbo) should have its own unique character; obtained by sautéing in separate spice mixtures. This will add variety to each spoonful of the final product. In addition, each meat or vegetable needs to be added at the proper time so the texture will compliment
the flavor. Soon after the last ingredient is added, the gumbo will be ready
for serving over a bed of steaming rice.
Of course, aficionados
will tell you that the gumbo is going to get better after it has “spent the night” in the refrigerator. The flavor infusion continues in the cold environment without ruining the consistency of the various ingredients.
Only when eaten the following day, week or month can one truly appreciate the delightful palate that a great gumbo delivers.
I will let you in
on a secret. The best stuff is on the bottom!
A long handled ladle is always required to get a scoop of the wonderful sediment that lies underneath the flavorful
broth. Some from the bottom, more from the top, a sprinkling of fresh parsley
and green onion tops (properly washed, of course) all come together to create a masterpiece of culinary joy.
I
will let you in on another secret. Society is like gumbo. The social structure of a well functioning civilization depends on variety.
We cannot all be the same. The very flaw of communism is the assumption
that utopia is made up of people who are all the same. The same is true about
socialism. People cannot thrive in a system where there is no variety, where
there is no spice, where there is no hope.
In the United States
of America, we have this variety. Our strength lies in our diversity. As the
strength of an alloy steel is greater than any of its components, the strength of this nation, which lies in the union of
its diverse population, is greater than the strength of a single race, religion, creed, ethnic origin, etc. Variety is not just the spice; it is the essence of life.
And like that great
gumbo, the best stuff is near the bottom. The greatest asset to this country
is the people who occupy the “so called bottom” of our social fabric. Their
strength, their diversity, their hard work and experience are all required in order to provide the right mix to this great
gumbo. Without them, we are nothing more than a thin and watery soup.
The governing process
of our society is like taking a serving from the gumbo pot. When properly served,
there must be a mix. If you take only the top or the bottom, the variety is gone. You will not achieve the array that brings both pleasure and strength to the meal.
Right now, the biggest
problems facing our society are the chefs who want to change the recipe. There
are those who want us all to be the same. There are those who want to serve just
from the bottom and others just from the top. There are those who want to make
the recipe so complex that it requires the hiring of additional cooks. There
are those who want to create so many rules that “gumbo enforcers” dominate the kitchen. There are those who want us to believe the gumbo is bad simply because they were not in control.
I do admit that these
people bring their own variety to the mix and, taken in small doses, they will add their own spiciness. But, like adding too much salt or too much pepper, when these people are allowed to dominate, the gumbo
will truly be ruined. Our society will no longer flourish. We will all fall into despair and ruin.
