re: Cooked my first gumbo tonight.

No tomatoes isn't a rule...it's a choice. That's my opinion, and at this age, I 've been cooking gumbo s longer than most posters have been eating them.

Tomatoes shouldn't be in Chicken and Andouille gumbo. Only seafood.

Thanks for the advice tonight. Will try my own roux next. And basicly whatever i want to put in it. Everybody cooks it different and it all taste good. Thanks again.

I'll give you the rough method I use

Make my own roux, try to make it as dark as dark chocolate. As far as thickness goes it's tough to put into words but I like mine to be somewhere in between pancake batter and cookie dough if that makes any sense.

I add the trinity (onions first for a few minutes) to the roux and after the trinity cooks for a few minutes I add in some okra and cook it for a few more minutes until the okra starts to break down.

Then I add my liquid (home made stock of roasted chicken bones and vegetables) and meat

I don't add file but I will serve it at the table where guests have the option of adding some

Another note: I'm probably one of the only people to do this but I don't add salt or anything to the pot once it's all in there. I only season the roux. I use (very liberally) cajun land seasoning to season the roux. The roux then in turn flavors the entire dish.

Of course taste it to make sure it isn't bland before serving.

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Nothing wrong with a couple of tomatoes in a gumbo

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The only reason you should add tomatoes if its a okra and Tasso( and smoked meats) gumbo. Chicken or poultry shouldn't have tomatoes. GTFO

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Homemade stock

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I take all the vegetable scraps from the onions/garlic/celery/bp, plus the remains of whatever meat(ie. heads and shells of shrimp, bones and skin of chicken), and boil them slowly in a large pot, to create the liquid for the gumbo. You can always buy cans of chicken stock for speed.

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I've had it with tomato and even cooked it with tomato and I'd be willing to bet none of these swinging dicks would shove a bowl of mine away from their pie holes.

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Meatloaf I'll take that bet. Lets bet the thousand dollars you owe me. Double or nothing. Listen real good, do you hear it. That's the sound of me pushing your gumbo away. I don't eat greasy gumbo with tomatoes. Now where's my two grand.

When it comes to gumbo, there are as many or actually more recipes for it than people that cook it and eat it. Go to a gumbo competition and you'll sometimes see drastic differences in just about all entries yet they are all good in their own way.
I use tomatoes sometimes and mostly for seafood but unless you just don't like tomatoes it's all good.