Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Gumbo on the run

It's gumbo, not jambalaya

My gumbo and sweet potato fries from New Orleans Food Truck.
My gumbo and sweet potato fries from New Orleans Food Truck.
Place

57 Degrees

1735 Hancock Street, San Diego

What's the difference between gumbo, jambalaya and étouffée? Tonight I've got a chance to find out. This is at 57 Degree's monthly food truck gathering (1735 Hancock Street, near Washington), and the last truck in the row in the parking lot turned out to be the New Orleans Food Truck.

Doing good business, too. I join the line as dusk gathers, and check out their menu. Ah, perfecto. They're doing all three, plus a shrimp and corn bisque ($5 small, $8 large), and an actual crab cake burger ($8), and sweet potato fries ($5). So when my turn comes, have to ask the Big Question. And wow. They have a proper chef aboard, with toque and white tunic, and a menu that checks all the right boxes when it comes to New Orleans chow.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Bobby Beigné and Jaime

Chef's name is Bobby Beigné and the guy taking the money is Jaime.

So, okay, what IS the difference between gumbo, jambalaya and étouffée?

"Talk to Bobby Beigné," says Jaime, at the order hatch. "He's the expert."

Bobby leans down so he can see through the serving hatch.

"Gumbo is the soup made with roux. Jambalaya is the spicy rice with sausage and chicken or beef. Étouffée is more like shrimp or crawfish with gravy."

I'm still trying to get this straight when the guy ahead of me in line recommends the gumbo. "It's a soup, but it's so thick you can just about eat it."

So I go ahead and order the $8 bowl (could have had the same size choices for jambalaya and étouffée), and add a basket of Cajun fries (sweet potato version). Two minutes later Bobby hands down this waxy paper pot brimming with the brown gloop, white rice sticking up, chunks of chicken, slices of sausage, and a slice of French bread to dip into it. Next to it, this paper plate of almost scarlet-red fries steams away.

The gumbo smells of...okra, I'm gonna guess, paprika, tomatoes, and the trinity of onions, bell peppers and, oh yeah, for sure: celery. The Cajuns call that trinity the "holy trinity" when they add garlic. For sure it's the full holy trinity in this mix. In texture it kinda reminds you of the muddy banks of the mighty Mississippi. Whereas jambalaya is a kind of paella.

Turns out the name "gumbo" probably comes from Africa, from "ki ngombo," the Bantu word for okra. But it just might have come from "kombo," the American Indian word for the Choctaw spice, filé, ground from dried sassafras leaves.

So a heckuva lot of history to each bite here. My favorite part is dipping the bread into it. Something about the bread and soup taste combo is magic.

But bottom line: this gumbo from the land of the mighty Mississippi is mighty mighty filling. Guess I'll have to come back for the jambalaya and étouffée some other time.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tuétano and Mujer Divina: two storefronts, one famous birria

Burritos and coffee or tacos and tortas, marrow or not
My gumbo and sweet potato fries from New Orleans Food Truck.
My gumbo and sweet potato fries from New Orleans Food Truck.
Place

57 Degrees

1735 Hancock Street, San Diego

What's the difference between gumbo, jambalaya and étouffée? Tonight I've got a chance to find out. This is at 57 Degree's monthly food truck gathering (1735 Hancock Street, near Washington), and the last truck in the row in the parking lot turned out to be the New Orleans Food Truck.

Doing good business, too. I join the line as dusk gathers, and check out their menu. Ah, perfecto. They're doing all three, plus a shrimp and corn bisque ($5 small, $8 large), and an actual crab cake burger ($8), and sweet potato fries ($5). So when my turn comes, have to ask the Big Question. And wow. They have a proper chef aboard, with toque and white tunic, and a menu that checks all the right boxes when it comes to New Orleans chow.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Bobby Beigné and Jaime

Chef's name is Bobby Beigné and the guy taking the money is Jaime.

So, okay, what IS the difference between gumbo, jambalaya and étouffée?

"Talk to Bobby Beigné," says Jaime, at the order hatch. "He's the expert."

Bobby leans down so he can see through the serving hatch.

"Gumbo is the soup made with roux. Jambalaya is the spicy rice with sausage and chicken or beef. Étouffée is more like shrimp or crawfish with gravy."

I'm still trying to get this straight when the guy ahead of me in line recommends the gumbo. "It's a soup, but it's so thick you can just about eat it."

So I go ahead and order the $8 bowl (could have had the same size choices for jambalaya and étouffée), and add a basket of Cajun fries (sweet potato version). Two minutes later Bobby hands down this waxy paper pot brimming with the brown gloop, white rice sticking up, chunks of chicken, slices of sausage, and a slice of French bread to dip into it. Next to it, this paper plate of almost scarlet-red fries steams away.

The gumbo smells of...okra, I'm gonna guess, paprika, tomatoes, and the trinity of onions, bell peppers and, oh yeah, for sure: celery. The Cajuns call that trinity the "holy trinity" when they add garlic. For sure it's the full holy trinity in this mix. In texture it kinda reminds you of the muddy banks of the mighty Mississippi. Whereas jambalaya is a kind of paella.

Turns out the name "gumbo" probably comes from Africa, from "ki ngombo," the Bantu word for okra. But it just might have come from "kombo," the American Indian word for the Choctaw spice, filé, ground from dried sassafras leaves.

So a heckuva lot of history to each bite here. My favorite part is dipping the bread into it. Something about the bread and soup taste combo is magic.

But bottom line: this gumbo from the land of the mighty Mississippi is mighty mighty filling. Guess I'll have to come back for the jambalaya and étouffée some other time.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego Fix it Clinic, Gaslamp Holiday Pet Parade

Events December 14-December 18, 2024
Next Article

Live Five: Songwriter Sanctuary, B-Side Players, The Crawdaddys, Saint Luna, Brawley

Reunited, in the round, and onstage in Normal Heights, East Village, Little Italy, Encinitas
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader