Sweetie’s Gumbo

The smell of roux reminds me of my childhood. In the spring, as soon as the chill left the air, our family would head to our beach house on the Gulf. On the way, we’d stop to get chicken thighs and fish carcasses at the grocery store—we couldn’t miss an hour of catching time.

I learned how to avoid biting crab claws before I could tie my shoes properly and mastered the art of cleaning them before I could braid my hair. We’d bring the cleaned crabs up from the dock and dump them righ