Sausage and Chicken Gumbo

This Creole specialty is a mainstay of New Orleans cuisine. It's a thick, stewlike dish that can have any of many ingredients, including vegetables such as okra, tomatoes and onions, and one or several meats or shellfish such as chicken, sausage, hala shrimp, crab or oysters. The one thing all good gumbos begin with is a dark Roux, which adds an unmistakable, incomparably rich flavor. Okra serves to thicken the mixture, as does File Powder, which must be stiffed in just before serving after the pot is off the fire.