Gumbo and Jambalaya Threads / Board Demographics

I think prior to the I-10 bridge across the Atchafalaya, gumbo ways were more closely defined by place. There were traditions east of the Atchafalaya and west of the Atchafalaya. Now our traditions are more homogenized, although I hope there will always be pockets where this isn’t true.

I think nowadays, it’s about the cost of seafood.

In addition to the expense as mentioned by others, I'm just not a huge fan of seafood gumbo/jamb.

I mean I get the cost thing. Although seafood gumbo doesn’t need crab at all. A good shrimp and okra gumbo cost no more than C&S.

But on another note, I have not once seen shrimp jambalaya mentioned on this board. Shrimp jambalaya was a staple dish down the bayou. It’s almost been erased from existence.

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I prefer C&S gumbo or duck gumbo over seafood gumbo. I would rather eat seafood in other ways.

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This is my question about demographics. Are most posters here land lubbers?

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Shrimp jambalaya was a staple dish down the bayou. It’s almost been erased from existence.

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Not in my house. We love a good shrimp jambalaya. I posted one here a long time ago and it wasn't received well.

My Mamaw was a Bonvillian and she made an awesome shrimp jambalaya. It used a little tomato sauce in it so it was red. So that's what I grew up on and love. That's just not popular here. And I'm fine with that.

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It's because the worst people in Louisiana are the most vocal, and they come from Acadiana.

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I had no idea you were from Acadiana!

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can throw together a big pot of C&S gumbo for <$20. A similarly sized seafood gumbo is going to be >$100 most likely. There's your main reason.

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Love both but I too suspect cost is the biggest discriminator.

1. I love seafood gumbo, but the ingredients are too expensive for me to make regularly, and I can’t afford to screw it up. As a result, I never mastered the techniques to make it. If I f$&k up an $6 pack of chicken thighs, I’m not really mad about it. So, I was able to perfect my c&s gumbo technique through trial and error. In addition, I don’t know any restaurants in Baton Rouge that make a seafood gumbo that isn’t disappointing. Duck & andouille gumbo from the chimes is the best I have had from a restaurant in Baton Rouge.

2. I don’t hate red jambalaya, but I don’t prefer it, and I get really disappointed if I’m expecting a brown pork & sausage jambalaya but get red instead, just like someone expecting a bacon cheeseburger might be disappointed with a ham & cheese sandwich. It’s not bad, just not what they wanted. Once again, I have way more practice cooking jambalaya with pork & sausage, so I know I won’t screw it up. I use shrimp for other dishes which I am more practiced at.

3. Sauce piquant is a good dish. Just don’t give me sauce piquant and tell me it’s gumbo. They’re two different things. Like giving someone Dr. Pepper instead of coke. Similar, but different enough to be noticeably not what you ordered.

4. I think you’re correct about bayou parishes being underrepresented on here relative to Baton Rouge. This is an LSU centric board, and most posters here either attended LSU or live in Baton Rouge. Maybe the bayou parishes just don’t have as many alumni due to their predominantly blue collar industrial base? Baton Rouge and the river parishes have chemical plants, Lafayette has engineering and medical sectors, and New Orleans has a fair amount of professional jobs like legal, accounting, and medical. Houston, Huntsville, Dallas, and Atlanta are all hubs for LSU grade, especially engineering ones. It’s possible the lack of white collar jobs in Lafouche & Terrebone contribute to them being underrepresented on this board.

If I am going with seafood it is going to be etouffee.

The gumbo I make is chicken and sausage without okra!

I make my etouffee roux on the stove, gumbo roux in the oven.

I am sure someone wants to fight me now.

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I'm on the bayou (Lafourche) and have never heard of this roux-less stuff. Very interesting.

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I've heard of it

But the idea that most in Terrebonne Parish don't use Roux is some weird dream by the author. Never been to someone's home that made a roux-less gumbo and I went to HS there and worked there in my late 20s and early 30s years later. Have plenty of extended family still there. This is not a common thing in Terrebonne parish. At least not in Houma.