Our Family Gumbo

My Louisiana is my family and our amazing Cajun food, specifically gumbo.  Family has always been a big part of my life.  We spend a lot of time together and food is always involved.  I love my grandmother’s gumbo and the memories I have from sharing it with my family.  I am going to tell you how this special gumbo recipe came to be and how my family became so close. 

My mother was raised in a two bedroom, no bathroom house near Lake Verret in Napoleonville, Louisiana.  My grandfather worked as a fisherman and my grandmother raised nine children in that small house.  This formed a very close knit family.  When my grandparents first got married, my grandfather taught my grandmother how to cook.  My grandfather caught the seafood and my grandmother formulated amazing recipes, because she had learned from the best.  My grandmother has never had a “set” recipe for anything she cooks; she just makes the gumbo from memory.  Her kids watched her make it for years and learned her techniques.  As they had their families they each made their own rendition of my grandmother’s gumbo.  I think the different takes they each have on gumbo describes our family perfectly.  Just like a pot of seafood gumbo filled with different ingredients from the roux to the seafood, the members of my family are all very different, unique, and special in their own way. 

One of our family’s traditions is having frequent family get-togethers.  My grandfather, who passed away before I was born, always insisted on getting our family together.  Spending time with his family was very important to him.  Following his example, we still gather as a family six or more times a year.  My grandmother, my eight aunts and eight uncles, their children, and grandchildren all gather in her tiny two bedroom house.  How we manage to fit, I am not sure.  We bring food; we eat and enjoy each other’s company.  Every time we get together my eighty year old grandmother makes her gumbo.

One yearly get-together that stands out in my mind is Christmas time.  Every Christmas Eve, we get together at my grandma’s.  We have the traditional turkey and ham, but Christmas would not be Christmas without a bowl of my grandma’s seafood gumbo.  Something that coincides with this gathering is all of my first cousins and second cousins, usually about fifteen to twenty of us, pile onto my grandmother’s couch for our annual grandchildren’s photo.  We have been doing this for as long as I can remember and all look forward to piling on the couch every year.  

This tight knit family, with our crazy traditions, enriches my life today and will for many years to come.  Gumbo will be a constant reminder to me of my family and will give me reassurance that where ever I go, I have a family I can count on.