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Chicken Gumbo

A stew of chicken, bacon, tomatoes, corn, potatoes, and onions simmered in water and milk.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Mary Elizabeth Lyles Wilson (1860–1924) · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 18 ingredients
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Why it works: Pork and chicken match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,417 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓

Chicken Gumbo

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the chicken

  1. Cut chicken ready to fry.

  2. Put four slices of bacon in spider and fry out the grease.

  3. Lift out bacon, dredge chicken with flour and saute in bacon grease.

Cook and finish

  1. Pour over chicken one quart of boiling water and cook until it falls from bone.

  2. While chicken is cooking put on vegetables with two quarts of water and cook until done.

  3. When chicken is ready, cut fine and add with liquor to the vegetables.

  4. Thicken, season and serve.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

981Calories
85 gProtein
36 gFat
82 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 11 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pork100g cooked242
Chicken100g cooked165
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Corn1/2 cup kernels (82g)77
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bacon1 slice cooked (8g)43
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Mary Elizabeth Lyles Wilson (1860–1924). Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Pork + chickentop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,417 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  2. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Corn + potatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together938 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  4. Tomato + potatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,798 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Pork + potatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Chicken
Provides the main meat, and its bones and juices flavor the broth as it cooks.
Flour (in the method)
Dredged onto the chicken, it helps thicken the gumbo later.
Bacon
Its rendered fat browns the chicken and adds smoky savory flavor.
Tomatoes
Add acidity and body to the vegetable base.
Potatoes
Add starch and body, softening as they cook into the broth.

The step that matters

Saute the chicken in bacon grease. Searing the floured chicken in hot fat browns its surface through the Maillard reaction, building color and flavor. Chicken that is crowded or not hot enough steams instead and turns pale.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, milk, chicken, tomato, corn, potato, egg):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Onionthe original
  4. Chivefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, milk, chicken, tomato, corn, potato, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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