Each Monday morning I make a tour of my yard. While it’s not very large, it contains many of my favorite trees, bushes, herbs, and plants. This morning I noticed a few harbingers that fall is right around the corner. Leaves from the pecan trees are beginning to turn brown and falling to the ground. The leaves on the giant bald cypress trees are turning to a sienna color. I checked my sassafras tree near the bayou and it gave me food for thought.

It has long been known as a medicinal plant. I remember my old aunts telling me about the tea they made from the roots that supposedly was used as a tonic to clean the blood. The Native American Indians in our part of Louisiana taught the early colonists how to grind the dried leaves of the sassafras trees to make what is now known as file (pronounced fee-lay), which was used to thicken gumbos.

At the end of the summer, the sassafras leaves are harvested and air-dried before being ground, resulting in a dark green-brown powder that is stored in airtight containers for later use.

I’m sure it won’t be long before we get our first cool snap, which will give the locals the inspiration to make a hearty gumbo.

Filed Under: Culinary History