Being a foodie living in the country can make it hard to find spices.
I have a couple different recipes for gumbo I want to try soon so I need file powder. Of course no one in town has it and I called ever grocery store in Ashland with no luck. Guess Im gonna have to order it online. :mad:

Maybe if you're real nice MrsJimmyP could hook ya' up with some, she lives in Cajun country and it is in all the stores down there!

My only problem was my gumbo was always so good I'd forget to use it, you really do not need it!!! My bottle went unused for yrs. once in a while I'd remember:o So I threw it out!

Yeah the recipe says to use it to finish for flavor. I have never made gumbo before and Id like to have the file before I try it. I wouldnt want to bother MrsJimmyP lol.
A friend of Jons is always in Lexington to visit his daughter on the weekends. Im gonna look for a place there to have him pick it up for me maybe.

Janie, just make your own. All it is is dried, powdered sassafras leaves.

Although file does add some flavor, it's real use is as a thickener. You use either okra, cooked with the gumbo, or file powder added individually to each bowl. A little goes a long way. In a large soup bowl of gumbo, at most a tablespoon of the file.

Another trick. Most people pour their gumbo over rice. But real cajuns do it in reverse. The gumbo goes into the bowl, and then a scoop of rice plunked down in the middle.

Yes indeed this is correct! The reason for the gumbo in bowl first is you don't wind up with more rice than gumbo:p and gumbo is sooooo good who'd wanna ruin it with a whole load o' rice?