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Sassafras albidum is an important ingredient in some distinct foods of the US. It has been the main ingredient in traditional root beers and sassafras root teas, and the ground leaves of sassafras are a distinctive additive in Louisiana's Cajun cuisine. Sassafras is used in filé powder, a common thickening and flavoring agent in Louisiana gumbo.
Choctaw Native Americans of the American South (Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana) were the first to use dried, ground sassafras leaves as a seasoning. [6] The French word filé is the past participle of the verb filer, meaning (among other things) "to turn into threads", "to become ropy". [7] [8]
The sassafras tree, (Sassafras albidum), sports an unlobed leaf (football), one-lobed leaf (mitten) and a two-lobed leaf (ghost). Native Plant: Tall coreopsis is the symbol of summer in central Ohio.
Ground, dried sassafras leaves — called filé and long harvested by the Choctaw people — give many gumbo recipes a distinctive spice. Some cooks thicken their soup with a cooked flour paste ...
Gumbo is often categorized by the type of thickener used, whether okra or filé powder (dried and ground sassafras leaves). Gumbo can be made with or without okra or filé powder. The preferred method in the historical New Orleans variation is with a French dark, even chocolate-like, roux. The flavor of the dish has its origins in many cultures.
“It also features the ‘Holy Trinity’ of Cajun and Creole cooking: onions, bell peppers, and celery, as well as okra or filé powder (ground sassafras leaves) to thicken the stew,” she ...
Sassafras albidum is used primarily in the United States as the key ingredient in home brewed root beer and as a thickener and flavouring in traditional Louisiana Creole gumbo. [24] Filé powder, also called gumbo filé, for its use in making gumbo, is a spicy herb made from the dried and ground leaves of the sassafras tree.
But you will still occasionally see foraged sassafras leaves or roots appearing on menus across the country. Sassafras oil and safrole are also sometimes used in the manufacture of MDMA , an ...