Page 18 of Honey's Special Roux

“I’m gon’ keep that in my mind. I appreciate you for speaking up and letting me know.”

“Yeah. We’re both going to learn how to love each other properly.”

“Fa sho.” He opened the door for me and waited until I was comfortable before he closed it and jogged to his side of the car.

This might be better than I imagined.

* * *

A few days had passed before Granny and I finally got the time to work on the roux recipe together. Between school, church, and family, we both had busy schedules.

“Everybody makes their roux differently,” Granny explained as she began the tutorial.

“What color is the roux supposed to be?”

“The color of you and me,” she answered.

I giggled. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Another important thing to remember is every city has a different definition of gumbo. Some people make seafood soup and call it gumbo, chile. What will make or break the gumbo is the roux, though.” We sliced and diced and prepped our kitchen so the cooking part wouldn’t get slowed down by maintenance.

“Right. My fingers are still numb from how small we diced those veggies.”

“It’s important to have your holy trinity chopped small. They are there as flavor enhancers.”

Between her informative voice and the soft sounds of Johnny Taylor in the background, my soul was content in the moment.

“We have our large pot ready for the most important part. If the roux burns, there’s no saving it. We’d have to start all over.”

She placed vegetable oil in the pot’s bottom. “If they use butter, they’re doing it wrong. Butter burns too fast. Vegetable oil can hold a higher heat and can guarantee a better cook on the roux.”

She poured a few cups of flour into the vegetable oil.

“You want to stir the roux to make sure it all cooks evenly and turns a beautiful dark brown.”

Once the roux was the right color, we moved on to the next steps. We poured the onions, green peppers, and celery into the roux. We waited a few beats to add a few spoons of minced garlic. The scent of the vegetables sauteing in the roux filled the air.

“It already smells so good.”

“We’re going to throw in the shrimp and andouille sausage next. The peeled crawfish tails can go in once those have simmered in the roux.”

We spent the next twenty minutes adding all the meat to the pot. Besides the shrimp, sausage, and crawfish tails, we also added snow crab legs. We kept the crab in clusters. The meat soaked in the roux.

“Now let’s add the seasonings.”

We picked up all the spices we’d lined up. Thyme, Cajun seasoning, Old Bay, Worcestershire sauce, and Granny’s secret ingredients. She poured a liquid and an additional spice inside a cup and mixed it thoroughly before adding it to the pot.

“I’ll tell you what this is when you get accepted into culinary school.” She bumped her hip against mine.

“I can’t wait!”

“Grab those chicken broth containers.”

After I twisted the tops off two, I passed them to her. While she poured them in, I opened the containers of the other two and finished it. Once the broth was in, she tossed in two bay leaves.

“Stir it all in there for me, baby girl. I’m going to clean up. Once you give it a good stir, put the lid on it, and we let it simmer for a while.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

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