Jewish Gumbo

Jewish Gumbo
by the gumbo diaries
Celebrating 300 Years of New Orleans with 300 recipes



"That's matzoh balls, not boudin balls, in this bowl of chicken and sausage gumbo, made from a delicious no-pork recipe adapted from Matzoh Ball Gumbo: Culinary Tales of the Jewish South.

I've been struggling to finish Marcie Cohen Ferris' Matzoh Ball Gumbo: Culinary Tales of the Jewish South for four months. It's not quite as entertaining as the title. In fact, it reads more like a dissertation - footnotes, ibids, op cits, et ceteras. But Chapter 3 - New Orleans and Natchez - has made reading the history of southern Jewish cooking worthwhile.

In my quest to collect 300 gumbo recipes to celebrate New Orleans' 300 years, I'm cooking Jewish Chicken and Sausage Gumbo from Chapter 3 and serving it with Creole Matzoh Balls.

Ferris dates Jewish cooking in New Orleans to 1826 when Jacob de Silva Solis ground meal to make his own matzoh for Passover. Though French Colonial codes prevented Jews from settling the colony, the Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities lists Jewish settlers early on. Isaac Monsanto and his business partner Manuel de Britto arrived in New Orleans from Curacao in 1757 as traders. They faced no opposition for a dozen years until a new governor exiled them. In fact, some of the Monsantos moved to Pensacola (near my home), before they eventually returned to New Orleans.

Though Jews haven't lived in New Orleans all 300 years, Jewish cooking there evolved quickly as African American cooks taught their employers how to use local ingredients to abide by religious rules and traditions. By the time trade increased and kosher ingredients became more available, the adapted recipes had become family mainstays. Ferris' book explains how forbidden foods like shrimp, crabs and oysters found a place at Jewish tables despite the lack of fins and scales.

I know very little about Jewish cuisine. In Texas, years ago, when a new neighbor was moving in, I invited her over for lunch. I'd baked a large ham the night before and was serving fresh tomato and ham and sandwiches on white bread slathered with mayonnaise. It never dawned on me she might be Jewish, but she spared me the embarrassment and said ham sandwiches were okay with her, just like pepperoni on her pizza. We became good friends and it wasn't long before I was attending her son's Bar Mitzvah. The food at his reception, a Jewish chicken salad recipe, and an Episcopal Vacation Bible School program featuring honey nut bars from Moses' time, rounded out my Jewish culinary knowledge. Reading Ferris' book has enlightened my kosher cooking world and taught me much about Jewish tradition, dietary restrictions and social adaptation.

This gumbo, inspired by Ferris' Louisiana friend Denise Broussard, is sweet, spicy and delicious."

CHICKEN AND SAUSAGE GUMBO

Adapted from Marcie Cohen Ferris (Makes 8 servings)

12 oz. frozen sliced okra, thawed and well drained
13.5 oz. spicy kosher beef sausage sliced in ½ inch rounds (I used Hillshire Farm Beef Hot Links, which taste like pork andouille)
2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut in 1 ½ inch chunks
1 large sweet yellow onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
1 ½ cup celery, chopped
2 TSP dried thyme* (Ferris' recipe calls for kosher salt, pepper and cayenne but I omitted them because the sausage has plenty of each)
32 oz. chicken broth
14.5 oz. - can diced tomatoes with tomato juice
1 cup water
3 TBSP tomato paste
4 to 6 fresh garlic cloves, minced

1. In a medium skillet, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the okra and cook, stirring often until tender and starting to brown. 12 - 15 minutes. Set aside.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add sausage and cook, stirring often, until browned, about 7 minutes. Remove sausage to paper towels to drain grease, then place in bowl. Add 1 tablespoon more oil to drippings; season chicken chunks with thyme. Lightly brown half of the chicken in drippings, about 4 minutes, and place in bowl with sausage, brown rest of the chicken and remove to bowl.

3. Using 1 tablespoon of the chicken-sausage drippings, sauté the bell pepper, celery and onion until translucent and tender, about 6 minutes. Remove from grease.

4. Add bell pepper, onions and celery to the hot roux in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Blend and cook about a minute. Slowly add chicken stock, tomatoes with juice, tomato paste and water. When gently boiling, add 4 - 6 cloves minced fresh garlic. Bring to a boil, stirring often.

5. Add chicken, sausage and okra. Return to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally. Cook about 45 minutes.

6. Top with Creole Matzoh Balls or serve over steamed white rice.

"I can't fathom the difficulties Jewish women faced 250 years ago trying to prepare a strict religious diet in a French colony, but I did get an inkling of it. Even with modern grocery chains and space-age freezer sections, I couldn't find "kosher" beef sausage after searching three different stores. I finally opted for spicy beef hot links without pork fat or pork casing. Somehow I feel confident my Jewish neighbor would have approved. However, I will admit secretly wishing I had a Kosher kitchen. After finishing the gumbo and matzoh balls, almost every pot, pan, and bowl were dirty. Oh, to have another set on standby."