Gumbo Life: Tales from the Roux Bayou

A sprightly, deeply personal narrative about how gumbo-for 250 years a Cajun and Creole secret-has become one of the world's most beloved dishes.

Ask any self-respecting Louisianan who makes the best gumbo and the answer is universal: "Momma." The product of a melting pot of culinary influences, gumbo, in fact, reflects the diversity of the people who cooked it up: French aristocrats, West Africans in bondage, Cajun refugees, German settlers, Native Americans-all had a hand in the pot. What ...