6 ms·

Southern Gumbo Trail (2006)

25 points by Kye 3y ago

greenie_beans 3y ago
whoa, SFA on the front page of HN. two worlds of mine colliding. this organization is part of the center for the study of southern culture. a humanities-based academic discipline that a lot of tech folks might think is worthless.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- panzagl 3y ago
  Tech people do not like the humanities because the problems are too hard.
  - MisterBastahrd 3y ago
    Why is it that I feel they will attempt to with AI and it will result in a figurative agnostic holy war?
  - HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
    Remembering the words of an English Lit professor when someone in the class asked why we had to take "yet another required humanities class." "Because most of you will become engineers. And as engineers, you need to understand that not all problems can be solved."
    - AlbertCory 3y ago
      > not all problems can be solved all the commenters on the Detroit land-tax article need to understand this. There is no magic bullet that will solve that particular problem, no matter how high up the abstraction ladder you go.
  - pixl97 3y ago
    I wouldn't say they are too hard, there are any number of physics problems that are 'too hard' in the sense they would burn all the matter in the visible universe to answer. I would say they are hard because they are not falsifiable.
- Kye 3y ago
  Bringing the light of southern cuisine and culture to the good people of Silicon Valley.
- pjot 3y ago
  Hotty Toddy!
  - greenie_beans 3y ago
    go rebs!
    - selimthegrim 3y ago
      Roll Wave.
- breakbread 3y ago
  I was recently back in Oxford and wound up chatting over beers with someone who worked with SFA. Despite living there for 8 years, I’d never heard of it before.
MisterBastahrd 3y ago
I was already going to make a shrimp and egg gumbo (my personal favorite) this evening, but hey, something to read. Why shrimp and egg? Way back when, eggs were free if you had a chicken coop and they stretched meals. If you boil them beforehand and slice them in half to add at the end, the broth marinates the egg. And I have a LOT of eggs from ADHD store ordering. I've got a few facts and opinions on gumbos for the uninitiated. If you would like to make a gumbo but you are afraid of roux-making, you have options. While diehard white guys will tell you that you have to make a roux by hand with flour and oil / drippings, you can buy either the jarred version or the powdered version of the stuff and make a perfectly fine gumbo, and anyone who tells you that they can tell the difference is a liar. You will save a half hour to an hour to boot. The gumbo you get in a New Orleans restaurant is a "show gumbo." You can certainly make gumbos that thick at home, but these tend to be heavier on the roux or okra than what you'd normally find in someone's home. These tend to be smaller than average portions with a much heavier emphasis on the meat and veggies and more rice than normal. Cajuns tend to not mix meats when making their gumbo (well, except for duck and oyster), while creoles tend to have less rules. Again, it's purely a preference and expectations thing. Do what you like. File' is both a thickening agent and a flavoring agent. It is perfectly fine to eat a gumbo with roux and toss some file' in for flavor. The easiest way to differentiate between a creole and cajun gumbo (and most foods for that matter) is the inclusion of tomatoes. Cajuns didn't have access to them early on and they do not feature much in the cuisine. I prefer the cajun style of gumbo and I've detested every creole jambalaya I've ever eaten. The tomatoes add nothing to the dish but sour flavors and wetter rice. Anyone who tells you to put thyme in a gumbo is trying to be fancy. Gumbo ain't fancy. The proper rice to serve with a gumbo is long-grained rice from Louisiana. You can use Jasmine in a pinch, but for the best experience, you'll want to avoid basmati, short grained rices, par-boiled, etc, etc. Many people will make a mustard based southern potato salad and layer their bowl like this: potato salad on top of rice on top of gumbo. You're not looking to soak the potato salad in the gumbo, you're just allowing the gumbo to touch it and absorb some flavor.
- brodouevencode 3y ago
  Looks like someone knows what they are talking about, except maybe for > anyone who tells you that they can tell the difference is a liar I tried jarred once and there was a distinct difference. Maybe it had gone bad, I don't know, but it was enough for me to swear it off. Besides, roux is part of the process that I thoroughly enjoy. > The tomatoes add nothing to the dish but sour flavors and wetter rice. We grew up on Cajun food, but my dad (who was already the black sheep) would add tomatoes to everything. I do this as well, so I might be a bit of a heretic. The only meat mixing we do is with the sausage.
lagniappe 3y ago
Still have a scar on my foot reminding me why we called it 'cajun napalm' growing up as I was learning to make roux with my aunt. Warms my heart (and foot!) to see this on HN :)

25 points by Kye 3y ago

whoa, SFA on the front page of HN. two worlds of mine colliding. this organization is part of the center for the study of southern culture. a humanities-based academic discipline that a lot of tech folks might think is worthless.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
panzagl 3y ago
Tech people do not like the humanities because the problems are too hard.
- MisterBastahrd 3y ago
  Why is it that I feel they will attempt to with AI and it will result in a figurative agnostic holy war?
- HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
  Remembering the words of an English Lit professor when someone in the class asked why we had to take "yet another required humanities class." "Because most of you will become engineers. And as engineers, you need to understand that not all problems can be solved."
  - AlbertCory 3y ago
    > not all problems can be solved all the commenters on the Detroit land-tax article need to understand this. There is no magic bullet that will solve that particular problem, no matter how high up the abstraction ladder you go.
- pixl97 3y ago
  I wouldn't say they are too hard, there are any number of physics problems that are 'too hard' in the sense they would burn all the matter in the visible universe to answer. I would say they are hard because they are not falsifiable.
Kye 3y ago
Bringing the light of southern cuisine and culture to the good people of Silicon Valley.
pjot 3y ago
Hotty Toddy!
- greenie_beans 3y ago
  go rebs!
  - selimthegrim 3y ago
    Roll Wave.
breakbread 3y ago
I was recently back in Oxford and wound up chatting over beers with someone who worked with SFA. Despite living there for 8 years, I’d never heard of it before.

MisterBastahrd 3y ago

I was already going to make a shrimp and egg gumbo (my personal favorite) this evening, but hey, something to read. Why shrimp and egg? Way back when, eggs were free if you had a chicken coop and they stretched meals. If you boil them beforehand and slice them in half to add at the end, the broth marinates the egg. And I have a LOT of eggs from ADHD store ordering. I've got a few facts and opinions on gumbos for the uninitiated. If you would like to make a gumbo but you are afraid of roux-making, you have options. While diehard white guys will tell you that you have to make a roux by hand with flour and oil / drippings, you can buy either the jarred version or the powdered version of the stuff and make a perfectly fine gumbo, and anyone who tells you that they can tell the difference is a liar. You will save a half hour to an hour to boot. The gumbo you get in a New Orleans restaurant is a "show gumbo." You can certainly make gumbos that thick at home, but these tend to be heavier on the roux or okra than what you'd normally find in someone's home. These tend to be smaller than average portions with a much heavier emphasis on the meat and veggies and more rice than normal. Cajuns tend to not mix meats when making their gumbo (well, except for duck and oyster), while creoles tend to have less rules. Again, it's purely a preference and expectations thing. Do what you like. File' is both a thickening agent and a flavoring agent. It is perfectly fine to eat a gumbo with roux and toss some file' in for flavor. The easiest way to differentiate between a creole and cajun gumbo (and most foods for that matter) is the inclusion of tomatoes. Cajuns didn't have access to them early on and they do not feature much in the cuisine. I prefer the cajun style of gumbo and I've detested every creole jambalaya I've ever eaten. The tomatoes add nothing to the dish but sour flavors and wetter rice. Anyone who tells you to put thyme in a gumbo is trying to be fancy. Gumbo ain't fancy. The proper rice to serve with a gumbo is long-grained rice from Louisiana. You can use Jasmine in a pinch, but for the best experience, you'll want to avoid basmati, short grained rices, par-boiled, etc, etc. Many people will make a mustard based southern potato salad and layer their bowl like this: potato salad on top of rice on top of gumbo. You're not looking to soak the potato salad in the gumbo, you're just allowing the gumbo to touch it and absorb some flavor.

brodouevencode 3y ago
Looks like someone knows what they are talking about, except maybe for > anyone who tells you that they can tell the difference is a liar I tried jarred once and there was a distinct difference. Maybe it had gone bad, I don't know, but it was enough for me to swear it off. Besides, roux is part of the process that I thoroughly enjoy. > The tomatoes add nothing to the dish but sour flavors and wetter rice. We grew up on Cajun food, but my dad (who was already the black sheep) would add tomatoes to everything. I do this as well, so I might be a bit of a heretic. The only meat mixing we do is with the sausage.

lagniappe 3y ago

Still have a scar on my foot reminding me why we called it 'cajun napalm' growing up as I was learning to make roux with my aunt. Warms my heart (and foot!) to see this on HN :)