1904 - Cooking in Old Creole Days

Gumbo File

DDV CULINARY

Put into a casserole (saucepan) a spoonful of pure lard and one of flour,
stir it well until it is of a light brown.
Chop an onion into small pieces and throw them in.
Cut up a fat capon or chicken into small pieces
and put these in the casserole with the flour and lard.
Stir it all the while until the chicken is nearly done.
When the whole is well browned, add a slice of ham, cut up small.
Throw in two or three pods of red pepper, and salt to your taste.
Now add a quart of boiling water, and leave it on the fire for two hours and a half.
A quarter of an hour before dinner is served add three dozen oysters with their liquor.
Just before taking the soup off the fire,
put in a tablespoonful of filet, stirring it all the while.
Let it boil one minute and then serve.
Do not put in too much filet; the spoon should not be full.
Indeed, half a tablespoonful is enough.

--LOUISE LIVINGSTON HUNT, New Orleans.