Excerpt from an article by David Halloway of the Mobile Pres Register:

There is really only one unpardonable sin when it comes to making gumbo.

That is, never, ever, burn the roux.

You can skimp on seafood or you can add too much okra. But to scorch the roux — the basis for any good gumbo — is to render your gumbo a bitter, acrid mess that can only be salvaged by tossing it out and starting over with fresh oil and flour.

As I’ve stated often in this space, making a pot of gumbo is more a function of art than science. The reason is simply that making gumbo is more dependent on a deft hand and a watchful eye than an attention to precise measurements and cooking times.

You can measure out each ingredient carefully, handpick the crab and de-vein each tiny shrimp with a dedicated eye and still your gumbo doesn’t measure up to past performances. It comes down to a matter of feel, and if you don’t feel it, you should just as soon quit and go back home.

This weekend on Dauphin Island, the art of gumbo making will be on display in the third annual Gumbo Festival and Cook-off.

The event will be a three-day celebration of the region’s signature one-pot dish that includes live music, tastings and a host of other fun stuff.

In years past, it has been a one-day affair, but this year organizers decided that there was simply too much fun to be compressed into a single day’s activities.

The centerpiece of the weekend will be the cook-off from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday that pits more than 20 teams in a head-to-head battle for gumbo supremacy. There are two categories this year: seafood and freestyle.

In addition to the cooking competition, the Dauphin Island Chamber of Commerce and the Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo have teamed up to cook more than 100 gallons of seafood gumbo for sampling. This new feature is partly in reaction to what happened last year: they ran out.

“We just didn’t have enough to go around,” said Gene Fox, president of the Dauphin Island Chamber of Commerce and one of the driving forces behind the festival. “This year we want to make sure that everybody who comes has an opportunity to sample and enjoy some Gulf seafood,” he said.

Another new wrinkle will be a sort of “progressive gumbo tasting” that will unfold over the three days of the event. Tickets for the tasting tour will be available on a limited basis, Fox said, and available from Dauphin Island Realtors.

“You might catch all of it or you might catch some of the offerings. It’s up to you,” Fox said. It will be hosted by various Island eateries throughout the weekend. Fox said the list of destinations was still being finalized as of presstime.

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