When I was a young man I worked and lived in Louisiana just southeast of New Orleans in Houma past the Intercoastal Canal.  It changed my life and the way I cook.  The people were friendly, spoke in an odd language (using words like fais do do and coo-yôn), liked to party and had all kinds of festivals, i.e. The Crawfish Festival in Chalmette, Lagniappe on the Bayou in Chauvin, The Shrimp Festival in Delcambre, and, of course, Mardi Gras in New Orleans. The scenery was beautiful and the food was wonderfully unique using predominantly local foods, i.e. seafood, beef, pork, alligator, various game birds and meat and lots of cayenne pepper and Tabasco Sauce with names like gumbos, crawfish pie, blackened fish, and jambalaya.  At times it was hard to believe I was still in the United States.  Regardless, I fell in love with Louisiana and her food. This is my recipe for Seafood File Gumbo that I have worked on for years. I won’t tell you this is the best Seafood File Gumbo you will ever eat because Cajun cooks are very proud people.  Each one of them thinks s/he makes the very best Seafood File Gumbo. What I will tell you is that everyone I have ever served this Seafood File Gumbo (including native Louisianans, oil field workers, restaurant chefs, friends and my children) has asked for more and most wanted the recipe. In fact, every time I make this recipe and word gets out about it I get requests to come over for dinner. I hope you like it and am pretty confident you will. 🙂 Oh and by the way, that is one VERY large oyster in this bowl of gumbo. Just call me a fortunate son. 😀 Continue reading Seafood File Gumbo →