It might be thickened with okra, filé powder (dried sassafras ... Elie grew up on the Creole, or seafood-and-sausage, gumbo of New Orleans, which is one of the best-known and best-documented ...

Gumbo commonly is made with meat or seafood — or both — with okra or filé powder (ground dried sassafras leaves) added for flavor as well as for thickening; this is sometimes in ...

West African slaves brought okra from their native lands to the southern United States. The vegetable, which they called kimgombo, also gave gumbo its name. In the 1840s, hundreds of Louisianans ...

There are many gumbo styles, but most recipes start with a deliciously dark roux, which thickens the stew (often with an assist from okra or filé ... and meat or seafood (or both).