# Cajun Dopers: Is "File" Powder Essential to Gumbo?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-dopers-is-file-powder-essential-to-gumbo/644119
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [December 15, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-dopers-is-file-powder-essential-to-gumbo/644119 "2012-12-15T17:16:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-dopers-is-file-powder-essential-to-gumbo/644119/1 "2012-12-15T17:16:56Z")
I just found a great recipe for shrimp gumbo…but I cannot find file powder here in Boston.
I understand that it has a subtle flavor (its dried and ground sassafras leaves). Will leaving it out spoil my gumbo?
How many days till Mardi Gras?
---
### Author:  [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-dopers-is-file-powder-essential-to-gumbo/644119/2 "2012-12-15T17:20:06Z")
Are you talking about filé powder, or the crud that cakes up my wife’s emery boards?
---
### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-dopers-is-file-powder-essential-to-gumbo/644119/3 "2012-12-15T17:37:55Z")
You’ll have a fine dish without it. Gumbo is usually made either with okra or file powder (and many will say never the twain shall meet in the same dish.) I’ve seen purely roux-thickened gumbos, but I’m not sure how they fit in the whole gumbo taxonomy.
---
### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-dopers-is-file-powder-essential-to-gumbo/644119/4 "2012-12-15T17:40:26Z")
Agree, okra or roux are perfectly good ways of thickening a gumbo. Filé isn’t required.
> **[Gumbo | Thickeners](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gumbo#Thickeners)**
>
> Gumbo broth or gravy derives from three primary thickeners: okra, filé powder, and roux. Traditionally, okra and filé powder are not used in the same dish, although this rule is sometimes broken. Roux can be used alone or in conjunction with either of the other thickeners. Okra is more often used as a thickener in seafood gumbos than those with meat. This mucilaginous vegetable is usually cooked first, and other ingredients added once the desired consistency is reached. Ac Ground sassafras lea...
---
### Author:  [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-dopers-is-file-powder-essential-to-gumbo/644119/5 "2012-12-15T17:53:37Z")
Thats what I was thinking too folks. Then again, winter time, in Boston, okra? Maybe some ground up homeless people would make an acceptable thickener?
---
### Author:  [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2012, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-dopers-is-file-powder-essential-to-gumbo/644119/6 "2012-12-15T19:00:26Z")
> [@ralph124c](#):
>
> I just found a great recipe for shrimp gumbo..but I cannot find file powder here in Boston.
> **[Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?q=penzeys%2Barlington%2Bma&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari)**
---
### Author:  [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-dopers-is-file-powder-essential-to-gumbo/644119/7 "2012-12-15T19:55:43Z")
[http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeysgumbofile.html](http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeysgumbofile.html)
---
### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-dopers-is-file-powder-essential-to-gumbo/644119/8 "2012-12-15T20:02:43Z")
If you can’t find filé, and you probably won’t find fresh okra this time of year in Boston, you may find okra in the freezer section. IMHO, roux-only gumbo is stew, not gumbo. Gumbo needs that mucilaginous gooey thickness. The roux for a gumbo is mostly flavor, it’s cooked so dark; there’s little starch thickening going on.
If you can’t find either file or okra, then some dried marshmallow root from the bulk herb section of Whole Foods or a health food store would be an unconventional but logical substitute - tasteless but gooey. I’d put the dried root bits in a wire mesh strainer in a bowl of cold water for 30 minutes. Pull out the strainer and you get a bowl of wonderful snot textured goo that you can mix by spoonful into the gumbo until the texture is right. (Heat up the leftover goo with an equal amount of honey and stir until it’s homogenous, and store in the refrigerator - you’ve just made a wonderful simple cough/sore throat syrup.) 🙂
---
### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-dopers-is-file-powder-essential-to-gumbo/644119/9 "2012-12-15T20:18:09Z")
Frozen okra is my go-to for gumbo. Mmmmmm.
---
### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-dopers-is-file-powder-essential-to-gumbo/644119/10 "2012-12-15T20:18:34Z")
> [@ralph124c](#):
>
> I just found a great recipe for shrimp gumbo..but I cannot find file powder here in Boston.
> I understand that it has a subtle flavor (its dried and ground sassafras leaves). Will leaving it out spoil my gumbo?
> How many days till Mardi Gras?
You haven’t looked hard enough:
Penzeys Spices
1293 Massachusetts Ave
Arlington, MA
(781) 646-7707
And they [do have](http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeysgumbofile.html) gumbo file. It’s actually more common in grocery stores than you may think. 30 years ago, you couldn’t find it for love or money north of LA.
---
### Author:  [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-dopers-is-file-powder-essential-to-gumbo/644119/11 "2012-12-15T20:29:16Z")
> [@Manduck](#):
>
> [HomePage | Penzeys](http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeysgumbofile.html)
> [@Maserschmidt](#):
>
> [Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?q=penzeys+arlington+ma&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari)
> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> You haven’t looked hard enough:
>
> Penzeys Spices
> 1293 Massachusetts Ave
> Arlington, MA
> (781) 646-7707
>
> And they [do have](http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeysgumbofile.html) gumbo file. It’s actually more common in grocery stores than you may think. 30 years ago, you couldn’t find it for love or money north of LA.
You guys are slow.
---
### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-dopers-is-file-powder-essential-to-gumbo/644119/12 "2012-12-15T20:49:26Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#):
>
> You guys are slow.
Swear to Og, I looked at the thread first. :smack:
---
### Author:  [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-dopers-is-file-powder-essential-to-gumbo/644119/13 "2012-12-15T21:13:58Z")
I think this Smithsonian magazine **[article on gumbo](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Best-Gumbo-Ever.html)** is interesting, and pertinent. Edit: It has a recipe for Creole gumbo in it.
---
### Author:  [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-dopers-is-file-powder-essential-to-gumbo/644119/14 "2012-12-15T23:02:10Z")
So, is the file powder just a thickening agent? Or does it contribute an essential flavor?
---
### Author:  [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-dopers-is-file-powder-essential-to-gumbo/644119/15 "2012-12-15T23:14:40Z")
File powder is added when the gumbo is off the fire, usually sprinkled into the serving bowls at the discretion of each diner, so I think of it as a flavoring.
I make gumbos with roux and okra. My wife uses file at the table; I don’t.
---
### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2012, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-dopers-is-file-powder-essential-to-gumbo/644119/16 "2012-12-16T02:22:30Z")
> [@ralph124c](#):
>
> So, is the file powder just a thickening agent? Or does it contribute an essential flavor?
It has a flavor. Very herbal in a sweet way. It reminds me of sarsparilla or root beer or something in that general range–I mean, it’s sassafras. I actually am not a huge fan of it. I prefer okra gumbos in general.
---
### Author:  [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-dopers-is-file-powder-essential-to-gumbo/644119/17 "2012-12-16T20:19:30Z")
> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> You haven’t looked hard enough:
>
> Penzeys Spices
> 1293 Massachusetts Ave
> Arlington, MA
> (781) 646-7707
>
> And they [do have](http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeysgumbofile.html) gumbo file. It’s actually more common in grocery stores than you may think. 30 years ago, you couldn’t find it for love or money north of LA.
Thanks..laissez le bon temps roullez!😃
---
### Author:  [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)
#### Post date: [December 17, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-dopers-is-file-powder-essential-to-gumbo/644119/18 "2012-12-17T00:30:08Z")
As an additional voice to the choir, I am at this very moment eating a roux-thickened, filé-free gumbo. (I had filé, I just chose not to use it.) It is delicious, if I–and the people who made it vanish at the potluck I took most of it to–may say so.
I _did_ add a bit of summer savory to it, which is not a standard ingredient in gumbo.
---
### Author:  [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)
#### Post date: [December 17, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-dopers-is-file-powder-essential-to-gumbo/644119/19 "2012-12-17T03:09:36Z")
1/2 breed Cajun here: We’ve never used file powder in our house.
Heck, we even use ‘roux in a jar’, and nobody knows the difference. (The secret is to use twice as much as the directions tell you to use.)
(I doubt you’ll be able to find roux in a jar up north though.)
---
### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [December 17, 2012, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-dopers-is-file-powder-essential-to-gumbo/644119/20 "2012-12-17T03:21:09Z")
Tangental question: Is Angustora Bitters used in any New Orleans/Louisiana dishes?
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cajun-dopers-is-file-powder-essential-to-gumbo/644119.md?page=2)