re: Pre-cooking Shrimp for Gumbo or Jambalaya

That is interesting, have not noticed that in reading old Creole cookbooks. I always buy head-on shrimp for gumbo, peal them and use the shells for stock, add the shrimp to the gumbo about 15 minutes before serving. The only downside, and it is not really a downside, is that the shrimp release a lot of liquid and thins the gumbo a bit. But the liquid the shrimp release is pretty tasty shrimp juice, so no problem.

Theorizing, and I will try it, if you boil and peal the shrimp ahead of time, you can save the water for stock, and add the shrimp last to the gumbo. If they are firmer and better color, not sure why they would be since they are being 'boiled' in the gumbo, it might work better.

Since I'm not of the 'this is the way my momma did it' school, I'll try it on the next pot.