It's a spicy cross between a soup and a stew. But we want to know how Russo goes about it. The gumbo is so popular that Russo sells 15 to 30 gallons a week. In his sprawling restaurant kitchen, Russo uses two stoves and four pots to make the soup, rushing from frying pan to stock pot to saute pan like a Cajun dervish. A frying chicken, in serving-size pieces, sizzles in a deep skillet, while sliced okra fries to a golden brown in the pan next door.
Homemade stock bubbles on a back burner.
A heavy, cast-iron frying pan is at the ready on another burner. Home cooks, though, do not need two stoves to make gumbo. And, although the soup is not a quick fix, it can be broken down into several easy steps. The trickiest part is making the roux. Flour is cooked and stirred in oil in a heavy skillet until the mixture is a reddish, caramel-brown color.