[aigel]

Sure wish you could taste it. Agreed on the Roux then. Definitely take your time and don't overdo it.

I never use stock if I have small game go in. The wild game needs to go at least 6 hours in the crock pot to be falling off the bone - that gives a fuller flavor than any domestic chicken ever will. And my bones stay in the gumbo - not going to do the work for the eaters!

In the end, Gumbo isn't a fixed recipe in terms of ingredients and preparation. It is a poor mans dish and whatever gram-pa caught in the swamp and gram-ma got int he garden went into it. Across Louisiana, you'd be surprised how it varies from family to family and cook to cook. What is striking there is how many people actually cook at home. Never seen that anywhere else in the USA, not counting recent immigrants. What's great in Louisiana is that men know how to cook too.

G