Filé powder, also called gumbo filé, is a

spicy Pungency () refers to the taste of food commonly referred to as spiciness, hotness or heat, found in foods such as chili peppers. Highly pungent tastes may be experienced as unpleasant. The term piquancy () is sometimes applied to foods with a l ...

herb made from the dried and ground leaves of the North American

sassafras ''Sassafras'' is a genus of three extant and one extinct species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia.Wolfe, Jack A. & Wehr, Wesley C. 1987. The sassafras is an ornamental tree. "Middle ...

tree ''(

Sassafras albidum ''Sassafras albidum'' (sassafras, white sassafras, red sassafras, or silky sassafras) is a species of ''Sassafras'' native to eastern North America, from southern Maine and southern Ontario west to Iowa, and south to central Florida and eastern T ...

)''.

Culinary use

Filé powder is used in

Louisiana Creole cuisine Louisiana Creole cuisine (french: cuisine créole, lou, manjé kréyòl, es, cocina criolla) is a style of cooking originating in Louisiana, United States, which blends West African, French, Spanish, and Amerindian influences, as well as in ...

in the making of some types of

gumbo Gumbo (Louisiana Creole: Gombo) is a soup popular in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and is the official state cuisine. Gumbo consists primarily of a strongly-flavored stock, meat or shellfish (or sometimes both), a thickener, and the Creole "h ...

, a thick Creole soup or stew often served over

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

. Several different varieties exist. In New Orleans, what is known as Creole gumbo generally varies from house to house though still retaining its Native American origins. The Creoles of Cane River make a gumbo focused much more on filé. Filé can provide thickening when okra is not in season, in types of gumbo that use

okra Okra or Okro (, ), ''Abelmoschus esculentus'', known in many English-speaking countries as ladies' fingers or ochro, is a flowering plant in the mallow family. It has edible green seed pods. The geographical origin of okra is disputed, with su ...

or a

roux Roux () is a mixture of flour and fat cooked together and used to thicken sauces. Roux is typically made from equal parts of flour and fat by weight. The flour is added to the melted fat or oil on the stove top, blended until smooth, and cook ...

as a thickener for gumbo instead of filé. Sprinkled sparingly over gumbo as a seasoning and a

thickening agent A thickening agent or thickener is a substance which can increase the viscosity of a liquid without substantially changing its other properties. Edible thickeners are commonly used to thicken sauces, soups, and puddings without altering the ...

, filé powder adds a distinctive, earthy flavor and texture. Filé powder is made by harvesting the young leaves and stems of the sassafras tree and grinding them. Filé powder is generally not added until after the vegetables and meats or seafood are finished cooking and removed from the heat source.

History and etymology

Choctaw Native Americans of the American South (Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana) were the first to use dried, ground sassafras leaves as a seasoning. The French word '' filé'' is the past participle of the verb ''filer'', meaning (among other things) "to turn into threads", "to become ropy". The name ''gumbo'' may derive from the word ''ki ngombo'', often shortened to ''gombo'', which meant

in the

Central Bantu The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) are a large family of languages spoken by the Bantu people of Central, Southern, Eastern africa and Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages. The ...

dialect. Okra was a common thickener in soups and stews prepared by the African inhabitants of Louisiana, who were brought to the colony in large numbers beginning in 1719. Some scholars have suggested that the gumbo was adapted from the West African soups and stews which were thickened with okra. Eventually, okra was replaced as a thickener with the traditional sassafras. The earliest known mention of the dish is from a transcript of the interrogation of an enslaved African woman named Comba in 1764. In it, she states that she gave "un gombeau" to another slave. Other scholars have suggested that the name may derive from the Choctaw word for filé (kombo). Some early 20th century authors, most notably Celestine Eustis, suggested that gumbo including filé powder was an early special-occasion dish for native tribes. This is further implied by a late 18th-century Creole practice. At that time, rice was a luxury for many Creoles. They served gumbo over corn

grits Grits are a type of porridge made from boiled cornmeal. Hominy grits are a type of grits made from hominy – corn that has been treated with an alkali in a process called nixtamalization, with the pericarp (ovary wall) removed. Grits are of ...

, a pairing common in the stews of native tribes.

Health concerns

Safrole Safrole is an organic compound with the formula CH2O2C6H3CH2CH=CH2. It is a colorless oily liquid, although impure samples can appear yellow. A member of the phenylpropanoid family of natural products, it is found in sassafras plants, among oth ...

and sassafras oil have been banned by the FDA as a

carcinogen A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that promotes carcinogenesis (the formation of cancer). This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes. Several radioactive subs ...

since 1960 and cannot be used in food manufacture for this reason. According to a study published in 1997, sassafras leaves (from which filé is produced), do not contain detectable amounts of

safrole Safrole is an organic compound with the formula CH2O2C6H3CH2CH=CH2. It is a colorless oily liquid, although impure samples can appear yellow. A member of the phenylpropanoid family of natural products, it is found in sassafras plants, among oth ...

Cultural references

"Filé gumbo" is famously mentioned in the classic

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

song by Hank Williams Sr., "

Jambalaya (On the Bayou) "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer Hank Williams that was first released in July 1952. It is Williams' most covered song. Named for a Creole and Cajun dish, jambalaya, it spawned numerou ...

", which held the number-one position on the U.S. country music charts for fourteen non-consecutive weeks in 1952. It was also mentioned in the song by

Gene Watson Gary Gene Watson (born October 11, 1943) is an American country music singer. He is most famous for his 1975 hit "Love in the Hot Afternoon," his 1981 No. 1 hit " Fourteen Carat Mind," and his signature 1979 song " Farewell Party." Watson's l ...

, "

Love in the Hot Afternoon "Love in the Hot Afternoon" is a song written by Vince Matthews and Kent Westbury, and recorded by American country music artist Gene Watson. It was released in May 1975 as the second single and title track from the album ''Love in the Hot After ...

", which was a #3 country hit for the singer in 1975.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:File Powder Choctaw culture Herbs Edible thickening agents Louisiana cuisine Native American cuisine Native American cuisine of the Southeastern Woodlands Okra dishes Powders