About this item

A sprightly, deeply personal narrative about how gumbo -- for 250 years a Cajun and Creole secret -- has become one of the world's most beloved dishes.Ask any self-respecting Louisianan who makes the best gumbo and the answer is universal: "Momma." The product of a melting pot of culinary influences, gumbo, in fact, reflects the diversity of the people who cooked it up: French aristocrats, West Africans in bondage, Cajun refugees, German settlers, Native Americans -- all had a hand in the pot. What is it about gumbo that continues to delight and nourish so many? And what explains its spread around the world?A seasoned journalist, Ken Wells sleuths out the answers. His obsession goes back to his childhood in the Cajun bastion of Bayou Black, where his French-speaking mother's gumbo often began with a chicken chased down in the yard.



About the Author

Ken Wells

Wells lives in New York City, where he continues on his quest to find the Perfect Beer Joint and dabbles in his hobbies that include photography and song-writing. He often wishes he were fishing.



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