SETH: Well, it looks like we're making gumbo and a lot of it.

TOYIN: We're actually not making that much Seth.

Typically we're making about 60 gallons of gumbo in our kettle over there, so today we're just making a small batch just for you.

SETH: All right.

Well, when I walked in I thought that was a hot tub.

TOYIN: Don't get in there, Seth.

Don't do it.

SETH: I'm impressed.

And I know there's a lot of different ways to make gumbo, so what makes this one unique?

TOYIN: This is a chicken and beef sausage gumbo, but we actually add smoked ground shrimp in it, which is a bit of a nod to my West African roots.

And the reason is we are trying to keep this as close to what West Africans were trying to recreate as enslaved Africans in the United States, so what that means is we don't have the French influence.

We actually are not going to start with a roux at all, and we're going to use okra and sassafras to thicken our gumbo.

SETH: And I know there are a lot of haters on okra, but I personally love it.

TOYIN: I love okra too.

So gumbo actually translates into okra in Yoruba, so okra is such an important part to gumbo.

So we're going to start with the holy trinity.

We're going to sauté this first.

We like to use a lot of the holy trinity, it gives the gumbo a great flavor.

SETH: And where does this recipe come from, Toyin?

TOYIN: So this recipe is partially a recipe that I got from my mom, but honestly being half-Nigerian, I kind of made a mashup of a little bit of what I know to be okra soup and then a little bit of what I know to be gumbo.

I let my taste buds guide me, and the ancestors of course, right?

SETH: Well, I know gumbo is very personal for a lot of people.

TOYIN: Yeah, it is.

And sometimes people get into fights over what should be a gumbo, like these tomatoes right here, you know.

I know I'm going to get some backlash over these tomatoes.

So Seth, the next thing is going to be the spices.

So this is a mixture of all the spices that we use in our gumbo.

It also includes some of the um, the ground smoked shrimp.

SETH: So in this spice mix is there's some actual spice, some heat?

TOYIN: Oh, there's definitely some heat in this dish.

Yeah.

So I'm going to go ahead and put this in there as well.

SETH: Probably a few secrets in that bowl as well.

TOYIN: I can't tell you everything, Seth.

(laughing) So we're just gonna mix this in.

All right, so we're going to go ahead and add our tomatoes.

SETH: The controversial tomatoes?

TOYIN: The controversial tomatoes.

We're going to put them all in there.

SETH: I'm not gonna complain.

TOYIN: It's really a small amount.

And we'll add in our Worcester sauce and hot sauce mix.

SETH: A little more spice going in.

TOYIN: A little bit more spice, absolutely.

All right, Seth, so can you hand me the chicken and the sausage?

We're going to get those in there too.

SETH: Oh, you got it.

TOYIN: Thank you.

SETH: And what kind of sausage is this, chef?

TOYIN: That is a beef Andouille sausage.

Yeah, so we actually use a beef Andouille instead of a pork Andouille and it's great.

It's nice and spicy.

All right, let's get that mixed up.

So now this is starting to render out a little bit and we're going to add our chicken stock.

SETH: All right.

And I can't get over how good it smells.

TOYIN: Thank you.

All right, so we've got a chicken stock here that also has some parsley and garlic in it as well, so I'll go ahead and dump this in.

SETH: You got some real heavy lifting to do here today, Chef.

TOYIN: I'm telling you.

This is it though.

This is my workout and after this, we're going to go to the market and get some gumbo.

SETH: Oh, okay.

Well, it'll all be worth it.

TOYIN: Okay, Seth, so this is going to simmer for a while and then we're going to add our final ingredients.

We want it to bathe and get good, and you know, get all the flavors together.

SETH: Have some melding happening in there.

TOYIN: Yeah.

All right, Seth.

So we talked about the okra a little bit.

A lot of times the enslaved Africans weren't able to find okra, so they got some help from the Native Americans and they started using sassafras.

Sassafras gumbo file is ground up here, and it does act as a thickening agent as well.

We add both.

Some people just add one or the other, but we're like, "Why not?

They're both good."

You know?

So we'll go ahead and add the okra first.

All right, get that all in there.

And so we're just gonna sprinkle this file right on top and we'll give that a quick stir.

So this is going to need a little while longer to cook, but how about I let my team finish this up, and we can go over to Union Market and get some gumbo that's already made?

SETH: That sounds really good to me.

TOYIN: Sounds good?

SETH: Let's do it.

TOYIN: All right, let's go.

SETH: All right, Toyin, I got my spork all ready to go.

This looks incredible, I can't wait to try it.

Stop it.

That is hearty, that is smoky.

TOYIN: Oh, good.

SETH: A little bit of spice too in that bite of sausage I got.

A little more spice than I was expecting.

TOYIN: It hit you in the back of the throat, right?

SETH: Oh yeah.

That is just a wonderfully comforting, delicious bowl of gumbo right there.

TOYIN: Thank you.

I'm glad you like it.

SETH: And uh, you know, the tomatoes, you get a little bit of that acidity as well, maybe a little more acidity than I'm used to from gumbo.

TOYIN: Yeah, just a little bit.

We're always trying to keep this dish as historically accurate as possible.

So tomatoes and okra were harvested at the same time, so it was natural that when enslaved Africans were making gumbo, they put tomatoes and okra in their gumbo.

Now, I know that it's a controversy and a lot of people don't like to hear that, but we add a few in there just to add a little bit of flavor and give a nod to history.

SETH: And speaking of okra, you know, yeah it might be a little slimy, but I love it and I like that there's just a big old piece of it right here at the top.

I'm just going to go ahead and eat that.

TOYIN: Yeah, enjoy.

I mean, there is a reason why we keep the okra whole.

I love it, I think it's awesome.

But you know, for, for our customers that aren't big fans of okra, we like to keep it whole and it's easy to keep, to put it out of the, the dish, so.

SETH: Absolutely.

TOYIN: You can pull it right out, it doesn't stay slimy.

SETH: Even easier when you pull it out, you just eat it.

TOYIN: Exactly.

SETH: And you know, uh, Toyin, this is incredible.

Just absolutely knockout gumbo, but I've been eyeing this bread pudding the whole time we've been sitting down.

TOYIN: It's why we're called Puddin'.

SETH: I can't leave without giving it a little taste.

TOYIN: You got to try that one.

SETH: What can I look forward to here?

TOYIN: So what's awesome about our bread pudding is there's no nuts, no raisins, no cinnamon.

Everybody who has issues with bread pudding, they don't like um, you know, soggy bread, they don't like raisins, they don't like cinnamon.

We eliminated all of that and we're just making it incredibly simple.

So if you like butter, if you like sugar and you like bread, you know, then you're going to love our bread pudding.

And bourbon, of course.

SETH: Of course, a little bit of bourbon.

There's something to be said for just playing the hits.