This 1700s Gumbo has ALL THE THINGS | Ancient Recipes With Sohla
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Sohla is cooking up an old school Creole favorite — a gumbo recipe from the 1700s that contains 4 types of protein in one pot. This delicious stew combines West African and Native American cultural traditions with French and Spanish ingredients, plus it’s the official cuisine of Louisiana. Learn more about it’s history in this episode of Ancient Recipes With Sohla!
THE RECIPES
- kosher salt
— 1 pound boneless beef short rib, cut into 1‑inch pieces
— 1 ham knuckle, deboned & cut into 1‑inch pieces
— ½ cup lard
— ½ cup all-purpose flour
— 2 large crabs, cut into quarters
— 4 dozen okra pods, sliced into ½‑inch rounds
— 1 large yellow onion, peeled and chopped
— 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
— 3 celery stalks, chopped
— 1 pound peeled shrimp
— cooked Carolina gold rice for serving
1. Generously season the beef all over with kosher salt.
2. In a large pot, heat the lard over medium-high heat. Sear the beef and pork knuckle in batches until deeply browned on all sides. 3. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
4. Reduce heat to medium. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until it’s a peanut butter brown color.
5. Add the okra, onion, pepper, celery, and big pinch of kosher salt. 6. Cook, stirring constantly until tender, about 5 minutes.
7. Add the crab, beef, and ham and cook, stirring frequently, for about 15 minutes.
8. Add enough water to cover the contents 2 inches deep. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.
9. Add salt to taste and cook until the beef is tender, about 2 hours.
10. Add the shrimp and simmer until cooked, about 3 minutes. Serve over rice.
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Ancient Recipes with Sohla takes the food you know and love and traces it back to its origins. In each episode, Sohla El-Waylly details the surprising history of some of our favorite dishes as she attempts to recreate the original version using historical cooking techniques and ingredients. Along the way, Sohla highlights the differences between the ancient recipe and how we would prepare the modern version today.
HISTORY® is the leading destination for award-winning original series and specials that connect viewers with history in an informative, immersive, and entertaining manner across all platforms. The network’s all-original programming slate features a roster of hit series, premium documentaries, and scripted event programming.
CREDITS
Host
Sohla El-Waylly
Created By
Brian Huffman
Executive Producers
Sarah Walker
Brian Huffman
Jon Erwin
Executive Producer
Sohla El-Waylly
Co-Producer
John Schlirf
Writers
Jon Erwin
Diana Davis
Historian — Scripts
Ken Albala
Guest
Lolis Eric Elie
Post-Production Supervisors
Jon Erwin
John Schlirf
Editor
Jordan Podos
Colorist
John Schlirf
Mixer
Tim Wagner
Manager, Rights & Clearances
Chris Kim
Executive Creative Director, A+E Networks
Tim Nolan
VP, Marketing Production, A+E Networks
Kate Leonard
VP, Brand Creative, History
Matt Neary
Music Courtesy of
Extreme Music
A+E Signature Tracks
Additional Footage & Photos Courtesy of
Getty Images
Alamy
Pond5
Wikimedia
#1700s #Gumbo #Ancient #Recipes #Sohla
Really?? We can’t even produce a cooking show without some leftist race mongering?? Huge tune out factor…
Next…
its on my agenda this year to make gumbo. i have never made it before as i have always felt it was beyond my caliber but, between this video and my best friends occupation as a chef, i just may brave this on my own.
It has to have Okra and Sassafras…
I made gumbo z’herbs yesterday. HIGHLY recommended it folks!
good grief. Now food is racist. Get a grip. Make a pot of gumbo with love. Invite your neighbor to supper. Have a good time.
You needed almost 11 min 2 start cooking.…👎👎👎👎👎
The pharaonic name for okra mentioned in the Harris papyrus was Bano.
The hieratic text of the papyrus consists of a list of temple endowments and a brief summary of the entire reign (1186–1155 BC) of king Ramesses III of the Twentieth dynasty of Egypt.
There are three different sources of wild okra, India, Ethiopia, and west Africa. Same subspecies different variety.
Beef was rare in New Orleans/Louisiana until the Cajuns came and started cattle ranches.
Spanish Colony, French Colony not American until 1804
1803 – France turned over New Orleans, the historic colonial capital, to the United States on 20 December 1803.
India is a major okra producing country in the world comprising 72 per cent of total area under okra.India ranks first in world in okra production. The other countries growing okra commercially are Turkey, Iran, Western Africa, Yugoslavia, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Myanmar, Japan, Malaysia, Brazil, Ghana, Ethiopia, Cyprus and the Southern US.
Bon appétit 😋
The complicated past of this country… it can also be heavily tracked to natives. And okra being tied to later traits from Africa and file existing beforehand. Everyone puts their own twist on it. You ask a African dependent person, then it’s African. You ask a French person, then it’s European. And so on. There are Hispanic and many other roots that touch into the very early past, but the vast majority is in Native American food.
So informative! Thank you for schooling us all 👍Gumbo is to your taste and made with what you have.
The regional styles and differences,
I Love it guys💙
How can I block JUST YOU, not the channel?
As you did with the shrimp, I add half of my okra at the beginning and the rest about 30 minutes before its finished.
I’m a cajun that grew up about an hour south of new orleans and even I learned a few things!
This is my experience as a poor gal growing up: cajun gumbos used holy trinity + garlic, chicken & sausage. Creole gumbos used trinity+ garlic, whatever seafood was caught (shrimp, crawfish, crab), sausage, okra, tomatoes.
No matter which one: a small dash of file in your bowel, never the whole pot.
The color of the rue usually depended on personal preference! I knew this one lady that loved a super dark rue.. never had the heart to say “ma’am this rue is BURNT” lol
Hi Sohla. I just found your videos this evening and have quickly fallen in love with them. As a novice foodie and history lover this premise is remarkable. You asked in a previous episode for ideas for traditional holiday spreads, so I figured I’d ask about the traditional Polish Christmas Eve Dinner. In doing my own research, I’ve learned that this varies by region and some areas had a much heavier Jewish population crafting their own spin on the meal, but if you could find a way to include the most common dishes into one episode, I believe that would be truly special. Thanks for all you do.
I appreciate this video. I love that she says Creole instead of Cajun.
This series of videos is some of the best content on YouTube. I don’t know who at history channel needs to hear this, but I need so many more of these 😅
Okra makes me remember an older friend who’s no longer with us. She grew up in the Caribean and they always called whole okra pods “vegetable slugs”.
I think they make her do the dishes, I noticed she didn’t dirty any extra utensils or bowls. Looked awesome
I want to second the suggestion of looking at the history of Tchebioudene or other african dishes. I know for instance that Nigerian/Ghanain Jollof rice evolved from Tchebioudene. I think african cuisine just needs more representation!
❤ SoHLA!!!
Looks delicious but She said she’s used to making dark roux’s. That roux still looks pretty dark.
Remember if you’re wanting to do history Mardi Gras was created in Mobile, Al…..beads included lol
How about exploring some foods from our northern Natives such as the Inuit and Yupik and such? Their environment has inspired lots of innovation, I bet!
I think in the end when you added the shrimp i would have added 4 oz of goat cheese. or some garlic and herb goat cheese. would have been just a bit lighter and so creamy. I do it with ham and peas soup instead of heavy creams. So good so much creamier.
She is so cute
Of course he had to bring “race” into this!!!
Sorry young lady—-That is STEW not gumbo. Also much too much rice and never leave any shells on the shrimp.
I’m from New Orleans born and raised and I can explain gumbo in detail. All of our food in south Louisiana is a mish-mash blend of various ethnic influences from European, African and Native American cultures. Gumbo started as an okra soup of African origin that was primarily made of okra, but also had seafood in it, hence why its name means okra in French (which the French borrowed the word from Africa). But that is not our Louisiana gumbo. Our gumbo is something else entirely. That okra soup was elevated by the use of several European ingredients and techniques and one Native American ingredient. The European ingredients are the French roux, the French and Spanish mixed-origin aromatics known as the holy trinity of onion, celery and bell pepper (from the mix of the French mirepoix with the bell pepper of the Spanish sofrito), and French origin ham. This created Louisiana gumbo. Gumbos then became more complex when more European based ingredients were added to gumbos such as German smoked sausage, the mixed German-Cajun origin Andouille sausage, the Spanish origin tasso ham, the Spanish-French origin chaurice (also known as hot sausage or hot link and derives from Spanish chorizo) and the Native American Choctaw filé (ground sassafras leaves). Some even add tomatoes (in some New Orleans area gumbos, usually a seafood gumbo). Then on Louisiana’s rural prairies in southwest Louisiana, Acadian descendants called Cajuns created an okra-free gumbo made of chicken and smoked sausage (or andouille could be added or substituted, the same with tasso). Today, okra is no longer mandatory for a gumbo, but is often found in seafood gumbos and not usually used in combination with filé (for traditional reasons). So Louisiana gumbo is a multicultural creation of various influences rather than an African dish in Louisiana.
The gumbo made of greens you mention is not of African origin. It’s of French origin. The name of the dish is gombo aux herbes (it can be found spelled this way in the 1901 Picayune’s Creole cookbook). When it is said in French, the x of aux and the silent h of herbes blends together to make a z sound and it becomes said as gombo z’herbes. And because the name gumbo is an anglicized way of saying gombo (the French word for okra and the name of the Louisiana dish gumbo in French) it’s often written as gumbo z’ herbes. It’s pronounced like gumbo zab, zab rhyming with the word jab. The dish is derived from the French soup of France called potage aux herbes, which is often also called soupe aux herbes or velouté aux herbes. It’s a green soup made of greens and herbs. The term gombo/gumbo became a genetic name in Louisiana for any “everything” stew made with a roux. So potage aux herbes became gombo aux herbes, also written as gumbo z’ herbes (Louisiana gumbo z’ herbes does not contain okra).
You said the first Mardi Gras celebration ever in the country was in Mobile, Alabama in 1703. But that is incorrect. The first ever Mardi Gras celebration in what is today the US was in southeast Louisiana on the Mississippi River 60 miles south of New Orleans (in today’s Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana) on March 2, 1699. It was celebrated by the founder of New Orleans named Bienville and his ships crew on the banks of the Mississippi River at an area he named “Pointe du Mardi Gras“ (Mardi Gras Point). However, the first formal Mardi Gras celebration was in Mobile in 1703. Mobile was also founded by Bienville.
I forgot to add in my previous comment that there really is no such thing as a Cajun gumbo vs a Creole gumbo. And that’s because the difference is regional, not ethnic. What is often termed “creole gumbo” is a Greater New Orleans area style gumbo and what is often termed “Cajun gumbo” is just an Acadiana area style gumbo. South Louisiana is broken into three regions: Greater New Orleans, Acadiana and the Florida Parishes. Both styles of gumbo are represented in the Florida Parishes. This also goes for “Cajun cuisine” vs “Creole cuisine” as what is often called “Cajun cuisine” is just Acadiana style South Louisiana cuisine and what is often called “Creole cuisine” is just Greater New Orleans style South Louisiana cuisine. The same goes for roux. The dark roux often claimed as a “Cajun roux” is just Acadiana style roux and the medium roux often claimed as “Creole roux” is just Greater New Orleans style roux. The idea that “Cajun style food” is rural and “Creole style food” is urban is also a false claim. The cuisines are region based and not city or rural based and is actually one big shared cuisine with regional differences rather than two separate related cuisines.
And lastly, gumbo is a Creole dish, all of south Louisiana’s cuisine, culture, music is Creole. That is because Creole is not a particular race or ancestry, but is just a Louisiana born person of any race that is not Native American (there are white creoles, black creoles and mixed race creoles), whom usually grew up in the south Louisiana culture (or pockets of related culture in parts of central or North Louisiana) and are usually descended from the colonial Louisiana population. Cajuns are a type of white Louisiana Creole and all of the dishes that Cajuns and other Louisiana Creoles of any race eat are multicultural foods (with influences from many peoples that settled Louisiana) eaten by south Louisianians (and others in related cultural communities in other parts of Louisiana) from one side of the state to the other (with regional specialties as exceptions and regional styles define this shared cuisine).
And on top of that, “Cajuns” in Louisiana are not Acadians as are claimed. When the Acadians arrived in Louisiana, they intermixed with the original white Louisianians of French background (descent from France and Québec) called “French Creoles”. This mixed Acadian-French Creole group absorbed ancestries from white French Caribbeans mainly from St. Domingue (colonial Haiti), 19th century immigrants from France and white colonial Louisianians of Spanish descent called Spanish Creoles and white colonial Louisianians of German descent called German Creoles. The Louisiana born children and grandchildren of the Acadian immigrants were called Acadian Creoles before the term Cajun was invented. So the people today that identify as Cajuns are not Cajuns (Acadians), but are just mixed background white Louisiana Creoles of a predominantly French background mix (Acadie, France, Québec, St. Domingue). This ties into food as Cajun-identified Louisianians are of mixed background and have offered up a mixture of influences other than just Acadian in that total portion of influence to the shared Creole culture that is south Louisiana culture (along with influences from other Creoles, whether they be white or black or mixed race).
So in the end, we are all Creoles cooking and eating Creole cuisine, living Creole culture and listening, playing and dancing to creole music in Creole Louisiana.
Can ya’ll make Pozole
Besides your Showmanship I’m tired of the b***** in freaking Working Man all the sjw so I’m happy to come here and just check you out
Yeah I like oysters and shrimp and crawfish in gumbo
Why is History channel not showing this on TV? This is phenomenal work. I wish I could watch this growing up
Everyone has there opinions yet know one has the facts
My family on my mom’s side are all creole ppl from New Orleans. Really glad you guys got an expert on, free to put in your recipe because I would have been really disappointed had you guys messed up on the history and origins of this dish. Glad to see this episode, never tried with beef also, will have to give a try soon.
oh he was a great guest, i loved what delight he had at the end submitting his research request
Stop we the race stuff the past is the past the whole world every country has a bad past in America is not exception, but get over it the past is the past everyone is now equal
on this we agree. I am both a little bit Creole and a little bit Acadian (won’t say Cajun since my folks stopped in NC and didn’t go to Louisiana. My Creole ancestors were here in the early 1700s. I also prefer a light brown roux, not the crazy dark unless it is purely crab and other seafood. My grandmother never cooked roux as dark as the tv chefs. And, we always used okra. Sassafras was very occasional, more used as a spice. And yes, we always use minimal water in a braise like this. I guess, this was how I was taught the difference between stew and soup. A stew is thick, the spoon should stand up. Soup can be just as good, but it not the same. I make my chili thick. I make my gumbo thick. I make my onion soup soupy. Props on the Carolina Gold my family grew it!
I loved hearing what the expert had to say
After those first two bites IKSFL about the flavors coming together 😮
Ever kill wit foo
I can watch her forever! More Sohla!
what an incredible expert! I loved this episode!! Nola mini series?!