Gumbo is one of those dishes you will find that numerous people claim to have the perfect recipes. (and I am one of them 🙂 No matter what ingredients you put into a gumbo you’re going to get a little bit of the four cultures living in Louisiana: Cajun, Creole, Indian, and African. Louisiana’s Creole cooking came from a European blend of its French founders and the Spanish who took over the territory from France. The French contributed classic techniques like roux, and the Spanish introduced tomatoes, peppers and garlic that were commonly used in their cooking. Cajuns were French, Acadians exiled from Nova Scotia. They were simple country folks who cooked with what was cheap and available. Slaves named the dish “gumbo” after the African word okra, used as it thickener. The native Choctaw Indians added file, their own thickener made from sassafras leaves.