A few weeks ago wife and I spent a few days in NOLA, the French quarter in particular.

[flamin lib]

Every time I do that I come back and try to perfect my cajun/creole cooking, gumbo and red beans & rice in particular. We ate at a little hole in the wall a block from the Hotel St Pierre called 'Eat New Orleans'. Not much ambiance and the acoustics were awful. It had about 10 tables. I had chicken gumbo and a watermelon salad. Both were over the top good. The other place I had really exceptional gumbo was at Hotel LaPavillion just outside the quarter. We slept too late to get breakfast and they were setting up the lunch buffet so we decided to have coffee and just wait for lunch. The Maitre 'D brought us a complimentary cup of gumbo. Another mind bendingly good sample of LA cuisine.

We have eaten at a number of "outstanding" restaurants including Commander's Palace (a once in a lifetime experience) and not had anything that came close to these two experiences. I recognize that there are as many ways to make gumbo as there are cooks and the only really good one is the one Mamma made but I've discovered that I like file` gumbo more than okra and that the roux needs to be really dark. I've also discovered that I tend to use too much roux which makes the flavor a bit 'muddy' for lack of a better word--I've fixed that. What I make is really quite good and everybody loves it, raves about it and there are never any left overs (the only true compliment) but my spice mix just isn't quite there. I've done the google thing and bought local cookbooks for cajun/creole seasoning mix. Most are too heavy on salt and cayenne pepper so I've begun mixing all but those two ingredients and then adding them to taste.

Common ingredients are dried oregano, thyme, parsley, tarragon and basil in varying amounts and combinations. I sometimes see a small bit of allspice, clove or cinnamon for that 'hmmm, what's that flavor?' effect.

So, without poisoning the well with the last mix I've tried, what is the best spice mix you've tried?

[Warpy]

1. I generally throw stuff in until it smells right

I know that's not much help, but knowing which herbs work well with which foods is important. Once you start there, you can season the food, taste it and think something is missing, and go right to something oddball to balance the flavors better.

You might want to get some filé gumbo at a good herb shop or online. That might be what's missing. It's mostly a thickener, but does add a subtle flavor, also.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fil%C3%A9_powder

(I wouldn't worry too much about the FDA warning, I used to dig sassafras roots every spring and keep a pot of tea from them on the woodstove as an old time spring tonic and I'm not dead yet)

[Major Nikon]

2. I love gumbo

I've had gumbo all up and down the gulf coast. I've made it myself from scratch and using various spice mixes. About 25 years ago, I had some gumbo at a restaurant that was simply the best I've ever had anywhere. At the time I lived in Tulsa, OK, and the name of the restaurant is The White River Fish Market. This place is both a fish market and a restaurant and it's been in business since 1932. When I left Tulsa, on my last visit I told the waitress how much I was going to miss their gumbo. She told me they sell their spice mix. So I bought some, followed the directions, and voila, gumbo just exactly like the restaurant makes. My wife loves the gumbo as well and she really doesn't like hot stuff, so I'm pretty sure you won't find it too hot unless you are extremely sensitive to hot stuff. I add more cayenne for my tastes at the table.

When I run out of spice mix, I just call the restaurant and they mail a new order of it to me.

[flamin lib]

3. Ok, I'm looking at the site.

Under top case menu I see several items like gumbo base. Is that it?

Gotta admit, Tulsa OK is 'bout the last place I'd look for this sort of item but then cookin' is a universal thing . . .

[Major Nikon]

4. I'm not sure if it's on the menu or not

All I do is call them up and tell them I want to order a bottle of the gumbo spice mix. I usually get 2 bottles per order.