"One Way" needs to stay on a street sign!

In my passing through the culinary landscape, one of the most important lessons I picked up along the way was "There are rules, and then there are guidelines". Rules are the things that must be followed as they are about working with the physical/chemical properties of the products being used- "do not over-work the muffin mix, as you don't want to develop gluten thereby making the muffin tough".  Guidelines are things that are to be followed if you are trying to replicate a dish, but can and often should be deviated from to reflect what you have on hand- go on, make your Grandma proud. Use what you have rather than making another Albertson's run. Creativity is what food is all about.

This post springs from a dear friend of mine over at Tight Kitchen. She posted her recipe for Gumbo- a quintessential Southern signature dish. Her family, as mine, puts tomatoes in the Gumbo. A daring, and rather uppity, Southern "lady" looked down her nose saying tomato "has no place" in a "real" Southern Gumbo. KABOOM! After witnessing the vivisection in real time via Face Book, that belle showed her lack of cultural understanding, boiling down to rules vs. guidelines. She forgot that a Gumbo was the ultimate collection of what you have on hand to keep from wasting, even if it was just scrap. That scrap adds to the whole flavor. Keep in mind the "Southern Culture" itself is referred to as a Gumbo- a melting pot! What got stuck in her mind was a guideline for her geographical region. Period. The only real rule for Gumbo is that it must be thickened one of three ways, or a combination thereof: Okra, Blackened Roux, or Gumbo File. Everything else is open for interpretation.

Now, there are times when you do want to follow the guidelines. One example is when you are trying something completely unfamiliar, for example a new recipe or cuisine. You should replicate the dish just to see how it actually works. Once you are familiar with the interaction of ingredients, you then can play a bit. There are times when you cannot completely duplicate a dish- you do not have access to a particular item in your market. That is when creativity steps in. Can't find Kale? Try Chard, Chickory, or Mustard Greens. When you have no options, you can always leave it out- just realize you may not have the full picture, and you should try making it with the item if you ever run across it in your meanderings in the future. Remember, recipes are not straight jackets.

So the food world turns on variations, don't get stuck on a detail. Humanity has too much to offer to get hung up on one thing. Tomato is too small to ruin the Gumbo, or your night's sleep for that matter. Suck it up, babe, the Gumbo's damn good!!