New Orleans is a place that’s constantly hiding and revealing in equal measure, on good days. On bad days these things are out of balance, but there’s a certain grace to the blend of people who make up the city that use all the juju at their command to make things right again. There are lots of adventures to be had in town, and looking for balance is a good place to begin. In New Orleans cheap hotels can introduce a visitor to all the magic of the city in a very precious and hospitable way, where the odd mix of roughness and elegance come shining through.
There are plenty of places to sample gumbo here, and it’s a good idea to try as many as one is able to, because there is so much variation in the recipes, and when it’s done right, it is downright glorious. It’s also become kind of a metaphor for the place itself, because there is a remarkable blend of disparate ingredients that, when taken together, pack a powerful punch that is absolutely delightful, and has the deep sweet taste of life itself. It’s probably a wise idea to keep your opinions to yourself, and listen to the locals talk about it, because there are always strong feelings about gumbo.
The notion of comparing a soup to a city is nothing particularly local, but follows along the lines of many different cultures, especially island cultures, and it’s very common in the Caribbean, to compare their own ethnic mix to soups that have everything. The origins here are rather deep and complex. There are certainly contributions from the French, but the influences are more overwhelmingly West African. The word gumbo comes from the Ki-Kongo word for okra , which is a typical base here. Also, in the versions where greens are a central element, the number of greens is said to signify the number of friends you want, but the numbers are usually 7 or 9, and these are numbers that signify the dead, or the realm of the ancestors. The soup gets deeper, and the gumbo is always funky, and New Orleans has a beat that will not stop.