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This article is about sausage seafood gumbo recipes. The chief ingredient, sausage, in order to be an authentic recipe will have to be Andouille sausage. This is a special Louisiana smoked sausage used in gumbos. It may possibly be tough to obtain, however, I have discovered several sources on the internet. If this specific sausage is not used, most any type of smoked sausage will be successful.
The next ingredient is seafood. This can contain anything and everything up to and including the kitchen sink. Most often though, shrimp, scallops, oysters and clams are the shellfish of preference. Up until roughly 40 years ago, crawfish were used primarily for bait, but they are showing up more and more in sausage seafood gumbo recipes. It was notions that the meaty reward with the crawfish was not worth the effort involved.
The holy trinity of gumbo ie; chopped celery, onions and green peppers is a stipulation to make it authentic too. The gumbo is commonly served on top of rice, however, it can be additionally served over grits or pasta.
The sauce, roux as it is referred to, may be made with lard, vegetable oil, or butter with same amounts of flour. The cook will need to continue stirring the mixture at which time it turns a chocolaty brown color, without allowing it to burn. If the roux is permitted to burn, pitch it away and begin over. There are two thickening agents that are generally used in gumbo. One is okra, the other file' powder. Do not apply both, one or the other. Again, to be authentic, one must use okra. Also, very importantly, make certain the okra doesn't get mushy.