[Sca-cooks] File

[mtraber251 at earthlink.net]

lol, and i suppose the paltry couple of tbsp of flour coating the beef in stew, or the tbsp of cornstarch per gallon or so of beef stew doesnt thicken? The texture of a good stew or gumbo is about the same, and it doesnt take much to attain it. Lol, I can actually get it in beef stew of nothing but beef and onions by cooking the liquid down uncovered throughout the day...and icurrently have a batch of duck heart, beef chunks and onions that is the consistance of a steak-and-kidney pie filling by doing nothing but simmering it and its cooking liqid down.

Yes, file has a mild 'green' taste that most people cant taste over the 'holy trinity' of cooking...and yes, that paltry tbsp of file DOES thicken that pot of gumbo.

And i knew plenty of people who didnt put okra in their gumbo, and they had been there since the town was purchased from Napolean..

margali

the quote starts here:
Message: 5
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2003 11:55:29 -0500
From: "Nicholas S. Malone" <Nix at iolinc.net>
Organization: Management Resources Int
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: File Seasoning
Reply-To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

Sassafras is still sold commercially, raw, powdered and processed as
extract.  Root beer extracts are mostly the same extract but with
caramel added. And if file did not add any flavor it would not be there,
you never use enough to thicken a hugh pot of gumbo. And okra is not
optional or alternative to real gumbo. The roots do indeed have a bark
or skin that has much more of the flavorings than the core. I have dug
and used sassafras for seasoning and tea for most of my life and my
family grows and uses it regularly and have for at least 4 generations
that I witnessed, they say longer. We always peel the roots. While the
root core is aromatic it is much less so than the peel. If you need to
fake the consistency in your gumbo your doing it wrong.