Gotta say that the Roux is the base for Gumbo, not a chicken gravy as earlier suggested, that would be a soup. To someone that doesn't know about gumbo I can see where it can be categorized as a soup. The "quality" of the roux determines the quality of the gumbo. I do not use ham in my gumbo. I eat gumbo probably once a week. You can go to 5 different restaurants. get Chicken and sausage gumbo at each one, and get 5 different variations of that recipe gumbo. But they all start with a good roux. Another thing, if you get the right sausage, cook it first it will not make the gumbo greasy. And another thing, folks are talking about Okra in Gumbo, yes but not a whole lot. Okra gumbo can be like a bowl of snot it too much is added. The best gumbo, and the most expensive to make is a seafood gumbo.