Learn to make a good Gumbo

My father’s family is from Southeast Texas/Western Louisiana, and the women in the family (and a lot of the men) can all cook. Most especially they cook gumbo. The last time I went to Texas to vist, I was a picky 15 year old Californian, and I found gumbo almost as horrifying as my Texan cousins found sushi. (“You eat the fish RAW?!”) But after avoiding it at most of my relatives houses, I had some at my cousin Yola Ann’s house, and LOVED it. And then didn’t eat any again for 13 years, because I haven’t been back to see the family since. So with my husband’s fervent encouragement (he adores Southern food of all varieties) I want to master the art of making gumbo. I can already make a mean Jambalaya, and I finally got a cast iron pot, so now there’s nothing standing in my way but laziness, and the need to find some people to use as gumbo eating guinea pigs.