It’s National Gumbo Day, Y’all. Here Are Some Great Spots To Get a Bowl

Because the seasons change and the crisper, cooler temperatures roll in, a bowl of gumbo at all times helps to get the great instances rolling. Gumbo might be the most well-liked dish in Cajun delicacies. Though the elements range from one bowl to the subsequent, gumbo is as emblematic of Louisiana as chili is of Texas.

Within the gumbo world, there are two completely different varieties: Creole and Cajun, which many consider are like evening and day. Creole-style gumbo often has tomatoes and okra, whereas Cajun gumbo doesn’t. Cajun-style is extra outstanding in Lafayette, (aka Acadiana/Cajun nation) and surrounding areas, whereas Creole-style is extra well-liked in New Orleans. No matter which model you like, conventional gumbo has both seafood or rooster and sausage. However, nowadays, you can too discover extra artistic kinds of gumbo, like smoked rabbit, smoked duck, and for the vegetable crowd, there may be gumbo z’herbes, which is loaded with an assortment of greens reminiscent of collards, mustard or turnip greens, spinach, chard and kale.

Oct. 12 is Nationwide Gumbo Day, and in celebration of one other essential meals vacation, listed below are just a few locations round North Texas to get your repair:

Nate’s Seafood & Steakhouse has been serving genuine Cajun meals in Addison since 1988. The proprietor, Nathan Peck, is a Cajun, and he provides 4 kinds of gumbo. Their seafood gumbo is a standard Cajun with shrimp and crabmeat versus the Creole gumbo which additionally has shrimp and crabmeat however in a thick tomato and okra base. The rooster and sausage gumbo has fall-off-the-bone tender meat and sausage. And eventually, their mixture gumbo is a mix of shrimp, crabmeat, rooster, and sausage over a tomato okra roux.

At Root’s Southern Table, chef Tiffany Derry serves My Mom’s Gumbo, which incorporates rooster, Zummo’s andouille sausage, shrimp and blue crab (photograph at high). The roux will not be as darkish and thick as you usually discover in eating places round right here, which is a nod to an excellent gumbo. It has a number of giant shrimp, chunks of sausage, and an precise crab cluster the place, in the event you’re prepared to spend the time cracking the shell, you’ll discover deliciously candy chunks of crabmeat hidden within the shell.

For many who dwell in southern Oklahoma (i.e., anyplace north of the Sam Rayburn Tollway), Bongo Beaux’s Bourre Palace & Cajun Kitchen in Celina is a wild, New Orleans-inspired and completely cool place to have a bowl of genuine Cajun gumbo. It’s loaded with andouille sausage, rooster, shrimp and okra in a darkish roux.

TJ’s Seafood Market’s seafood and andouille gumbo has a darkish wealthy seafood-based roux loaded with okra and andouille and several other giant recent shrimp. It’s a bit of thicker than a number of the different gumbos we’ve had, however we liked that it’s loaded with andouille and okra, and so they truly embody shrimp giant sufficient that it must be lower in half to eat it correctly.

Down within the coronary heart of Deep Ellum, you may seize an excellent cup or bowl of gumbo at The Free Man whereas listening to some nice dwell music. Their gumbo can also be loaded with rooster, sausage, and shrimp. The good twist is that they put some blackening seasoning on the shrimp and sauté it earlier than inserting it within the gumbo. A number of different locations simply dump the uncooked shrimp into the roux and let it cook dinner in there, and it may possibly find yourself a bit soggy and bland. It’s served with a small, candy cornbread muffin which is ideal for dipping within the roux.

Bucky Moonshine’s Southern Eats and Bar, additionally in Deep Ellum, provides each rooster and sausage and seafood gumbo. They don’t combine the 2 collectively like different locations. Their seafood gumbo has crab, shrimp and chopped oysters, which at all times provides a bit of one thing further to the gumbo. It’s properly seasoned and loaded with numerous meat or seafood.

Rex’s Seafood & Market has a seafood gumbo as effectively. The flavors of a great seafood gumbo are there, nevertheless it doesn’t have the massive chunks of seafood that you’d count on to see. Maybe we visited on an off day.

Tasty Tails in Addison has extra of a New Orleans Creole-style rooster and sausage gumbo. In contrast to the Cajun-style, they add tomatoes to it, which is nice. Additionally they provide a lobster gumbo.

And tucked away in a strip heart in Lewisville, Bayou Market is a dive serving up some improbable rooster and sausage and seafood gumbo. There are in all probability not more than eight tables inside, and it’s a counter-service ordering sort of place. The beauty of Bayou Market is you can too buy nice pre-packaged Cajun meals to cook dinner at residence, reminiscent of their gumbos, crawfish etouffee, meat pies and crawfish pies.

Charlie’s Creole Kitchen (previously the unique Dodie’s) on the nook of Greenville Avenue and Richmond Avenue has been serving genuine Creole cooking since 1989. Their rooster and sausage gumbo has a lighter roux than what you’d sometimes discover in Louisiana, however it’s seasoned properly and has an excellent taste with out the necessity to add any sizzling sauce.