Louisiana peeps: Is gumbo traditionally spicy?

Should be spicy, but not fire hot burn your arse the next morning. Should be packed with flavor.

well to be fair, all southern foods in my opinion should have just a tad of pepper taste but not hot

usually any of the local brands "mild" smoke sausage, when added to any dish, will do this for you as it has a little heat when you bite into it. after it sits overnight, the next day gumbo has the best flavor IMHO and the liquid picks up just the right pepper flavor from the sausage soaking all night marinading the liquid.

there are "some" families that simply put a good bit of pepper in everything so they cant taste it if it doesnt have heat. im not talking about OMG hot and you have to have a drink in your hand, but rather, everything they cook makes your forehead perspire a little and opens your sinus when you eat it lol

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Should be spicy, but not fire hot burn your arse the next morning. Should be packed with flavor.

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This.

To me, gumbo should be a mildly spicy and salty to offset the plain white rice, but I want to still taste the blended flavors of the stock and ingredients. I like the sausage to have a little kick.

Checking in from Eunice. I have never had a gumbo that lit me up. All good gumbo that I have had does have a little heat. I would say juuuust enough to make you need to take a sip of something every once in a while. My gumbo recipe doesn't have any cayenne added directly to it but as mentioned earlier, the smoked sausage I use does have some in it and it is noticeable.

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I'm using the word spicy to mean hot like a jalapeno.

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well thats not spicy, thats hot

spicy = flavorful with a bite

hot = like a jalapeno

really hot = burns going out as much as going in is like habanero peppers

I don’t care about spice but it must have tomatoes if I’m considering it traditional.

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usually any of the local brands "mild" smoke sausage, when added to any dish, will do this for you as it has a little heat when you bite into it. after it sits overnight, the next day gumbo has the best flavor IMHO and the liquid picks up just the right pepper flavor from the sausage soaking all night marinading the liquid.

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Depending on the type of sausage I use, I might not add any pepper to the gumbo itself, just using a bit to season my chicken before I brown it.

I don't know about traditionally. I just know that I like it to have a little bite. If my nose has started to run by the time I'm done, it was just right.

I don't use the word spicy as much as I would "flavorful" meaning with a little kick but not what I'd call spicy.
It should't be so spicy that it turns some away from it. I hate seeing people throw something away because they say "it's too spicy!" A little bit of a kick without being HOT or spicy is perfect and allow them to add the spicy element being hot sauce.