The Opelousas courier., 1904-08-27
aumbo File and Creole Coffee.

Aunt" Millie Ealer, for many years
a faithful slave in the Ealer family, al
Opelousas, and universally liked here,
died last week. aged s~eventy-odd years
She was an adept in the art of making
gumbo and coffee, and many OF our
people may be said to have been heI
regular customers for years. Some Il
or Is years ago, Mr.. Hough, OF Chicago,
came here GA q shooting trip, an ac-
count OF which he wrote for the we'll.
known sportsman's journal, Forest and
Mile made coffee and telling how
good it was, he told about her gumbO
as follows:
Many have heard of gumbo who
know not gumbo. You can't get real
| gumbO in the North, because it doesn't
grow there, any more than bananas do,
For gumbo, real gumbo, gumbo as is
gumbo, You have to go to Louisiana, to
O~pel0usas. Then, it may be, you will
| have to go to that same small side
| street and look up black Millie, who
made the puissant coffee. At least,
! four Of us went there one night and
two OF the party were Opelousas gen.
tlemen, who ought to know good gumbO
| when they see it.
Mile had the gumbo ready. We had
ordered it the day before. You have
to order gumbo the day before because
it takes nearly q day to make good
gumbo. This was good gumbo.
Millie handed us each a dish contain
ing what first seemed soup, then pot
au fen, then heaven. Visible ap'the
rich liquid were Representatives, OF
thought | detected a red pepper hull,
n onl n1uuha n tronn nf fnnrnfn fhA1Oh
the latter l doubt. Pepper of some
sort was there, for the gumbo was hot
enough to make a gumbo tenderfoot
weep. Other things also were there,
and all through everything, making the
subtle, ind&1nable, u~nmistakable flavor
of this gnmbO, was o keen, savOry
smack unlike anything | had ever met
before. This was what | had missed
all my life. | had been looking for
this. Ii any gentleman has lost a
chord he can find it by applying to
Mile, Op%elousas.
Glow do you make this gumbo, Mil
lie9" | asked, after | had eaten two or
three plates of it. 1t was purely a gumbO
festival. nothing but gumbo and coffee.
"Well seb," said she, "et takes q good
vile teh make gumbo. Yo' put things
in the pot, yeh, long iii the day N
time, an yo' let's ct semmer, N semmer.
n semmer.n
This seeming to. her a rational ex-
PLANTATION of the product of gumbO, /
felt bound to press the matter further.
What things do you put in. Millie9"
/ asked.
IVY, chicken, N rice, n things"
"What elseP"
"W'y, law! / dunno"
"Anv rpl ~nnnnar9n
ooh, yessah."
when do you put in the fte?"
"W'y | jes' puts ct in; sort Of afteh
awhile, you know, seh."
"How long do you leave the gumbo
on the fire before you put in the flea"
"W'y, bress meh habit, | kahn sca'sely
jes' member, sell."
"How much file does it take7"
ooh, net or grea' deal. sch, jes' bout
huff to season up wat yo' got on er-
cookin' at che time, seh.n
swell, kow long does it take the
gumbo to get doneq"
"W'y I dunno; oh, quite er vile, seh."
"And You can't tell me how you make
it, so / can show the folks up north9"
"W'y, no. sch, l kahn tell how all |
makes ct. jes' makes ct, sch. dats all.
I specs yo' think cts a heap hah'deh
teh make ID ct is. Els mighty easy teh
make gumbo. | KANT jes' zac'ly scribe
how / does ct, but | jes' makes ct"
From the above directions | trust any
one will be able to make gumbo on sight.
For my part, l believe in letting well
enough alone, and so | think | will only
eat gumbo hereafter when l am some-
where around near Opelousas, and then
| will eat it first, last, and al the time.
There are other sorts of gumbo be-
sides gumbo fl6.I ' =
But gumbo file is the distinctive gum
DO, and is acknowledged to rather lay
over all other gumbos in the gumbo-
line qualities Of it's gumboessenceness.