Nope, I'm not going to tell you how to make Carl Webb's Famous "Better than Sex" Gumbo.  I'm just as much a tease as Jodi Kasten.  Sorry.  Also, Pop Webb would be most irked.  And since he's 6'3", a former drill instructor, survived a tour in Vietnam, and owns a lot of guns, I will respect his wishes.

No, today's topic of discussion is that substance known to some as "Cajun napalm:"  roux.

Roux is a key ingredient in gumbo.  Like fire, nuclear power, and mothers-in-law, roux should be respected, but not feared.   Roux is made from sauteing flour in either butter (generally used for lighter roux as the base for seafood gumbos or etouffee) or oil (for darker roux, for chicken and sausage gumbo).  Those French; they can saute anything.

(The esteemed Mr. Webb uses a base of Crisco, which he sometimes supplements during the browning process by adding liquid vegetable oil as needed.  And remember his words of wisdom:  "Don't use self-rising flour.")

To make roux, you need a seasoned, cast-iron skillet, flour, Crisco, liquid vegetable oil, a lot of patience, and a cooler of beer nearby.

_{(Critical roux-making item)}

Take a honk of Crisco, plonk it into your skillet, and bring it to a boil.  Yes, boiling oil.  It ain't called "Cajun napalm" for nothing.  When you've got a good boil on, turn the burner down to medium and start adding the flour, blending it in with a metal whisk.  Don't dump it all in there at once, add it a bit at a time.  But don't waste time, either; if you're still adding flower after 15 minutes, it won't cook evenly, and you'll have uncooked flour bits floating about in your gumbo later.  Not recommended.

Now comes the time for patience, and beer.  You have to keep whisking that stuff until it achieves the color you want.  This takes between 30-60 minutes, depending on the darkness you're going for.  With Carl's gumbo, you want it to be, basically, as dark as possible.  I find 1.5 beers generally covers it, but I drink really slowly.  Be sure to change hands.  The beer will help ease the pain of whisking as the roux thickens.

When you get the color you want, remove the roux from the burner, but keep stirring.  It'll take the roux about 5 minutes or so to cool down enough so that you can stop stirring and not worry about scorching it.  But here's the thing:  everyone burns a roux sometimes.  Everyone.  Which is why this is the gumbo-maker's best friend:

Look:  gumbo takes several hours to make under the best of conditions.  For a thumb-fingered bonehead such as myself, anything that can cut down on the time and difficulty is appreciated.   So use ol' Savoie as a starter, brown it to your choice of darkness, and there ya go!

Next time, maybe I'll discuss other intricacies of gumbo making.  Or even give you measurements.  If Carl gives me permission.