19th century "Gumbo Filit A La Creole"

One of the first written descriptions of gumbo can be found in the 1879 cookbook "Housekeeping in Old Virginia" by Marion Cabell Tyree, for which she claimed to have interviewed 250 women. The preparation differs in several points from most modern gumbo recipes. "Gumbo Filit A La Creole" is based on a roux, uses chicken, oysters and spices, but, most notably, no okra. It's not easy to get filé powder (powdered sassafras leaves which are used as a thickener) outside the Americas. As this dish is thickened with a roux, filé is not strictly necessary and, just for the taste, can be replaced by a pinch of bay leaf powder. Serve with rice.
You need: lard, flour, onion, chicken pieces, allspice, chili pepper, black pepper, cloves, parsley, thyme, oysters, filé powder (if available).
If there is not much oyster water you might want to add a bit of salt.
Find more recipes in my cookbooks "GARUM: Recipes from the Past“ (available in English, German, French and Italian) or "From Eden to Jerusalem: Recipes from the Time of the Bible“ (English, German and Italian).
Music: Unicorn Heads, A New Orleans Crawfish Boil (RUclips audio library, creative commons)