"For native New Orleanians, eating gumbo is a way of life. When I was growing up, the only gumbo we had was seafood gumbo. Then, in the 1970s, a Cajun chef named Paul Prudhomme came to town. Cajun food took the city by storm from that point on.
The Cajuns came to Louisiana in the 1760's after having been exiled from Nova Scotia, Canada. They were settled by the Spanish in southwest Louisiana where they remained pretty much undisturbed until after WWI. Oil and gas were discovered in the 20's and 30's. When that happened they left the prairies and swamps to work in the oil fields. Harriet and I are proud to say we have Cajun Roots."
–Anne Leonhard, author of Across the Table
This recipe for Chicken & Sausage Gumbo is reprinted from our Across the Table cookbook written by Anne Leonhard and Harriet Robin.
Note: If serving as an entrée, serve over rice. An appetizer of gumbo is served without rice.
In 2017 my wife and I attended a group class. It was so much fun. One of the recipes taught by Harriet was gumbo. You will have success by just following the recipe. The most important lesson that Harriet told us was “don’t burn the roux”. I make gumbo every year and Harriet’s comment became the secret to making delicious gumbo. Oh so good. Try the recipe as written the first time then feel free to add more Joe’s Stuff for more of that Cajun flavor. I might also add that to help the experience would be to have your guests add some Gumbo File and stir it in to the Gumbo.
Years ago, my husband attended a convention in your fair city bringing me along so we tried most of the popular foods we could and I attended a class presentation at this convention with a large number of wives too.
I was picked out because I come from Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada where someone had been here cooking at GRAPES so many years ago and what a huge highlight this was for me. Thank you for these fond memories
Lorna Klotz
I can’t tell you how many time I have had to discard the smoking ruins of over-cooked flour and oil. Baking the thoroughly-mixed ingredients at 375 for an hour or so is much safer, and gives you time to chop… or to “cook with wine.”
The instruction “sauté the trinity” needs explanation. You could insert the decode in square brackets and readers would understand that this was an editorial amendment.
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Charlene Marie
February 02, 2026
This is a lovely recipe. Very flavorful and seems true to NOLA cooking. Peanut butter colored roux stir into the sautéed trinity and all. ;-)