Homemade Filé Powder
I finally made a small batch of homemade Filé Powder, and I can’t believe the difference between the true Filé and the store bought variety.
The Filé that I made smells subtle and fruity like coriander seeds, or as my wife said, “Fruit Loops.” It’s color as you can see, is army green, and I’m assuming that it’s thickening power is way more intense than the store bought.
The store bought Filé smells very woodsy, and you can detect some thyme and possibly some bay leaf in there it’s color is tan. One that I saw recently contained Sage, Oregano, and Thyme, and no Sassafras at all. Here is a picture of the two side by side, the store bought is in the bakground:
The following is from the 1978 book Creole Gumbo & All That Jazz by Howard Mitcham:
The Story of Filé
For hundreds of years the Choctaw Indians have had a settlement at Bayou Lacombe on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain, and they had a way of making Gumbo long before the white man and the black man arrived. They invented filé (pronounced feelay). The tender green leaves of the sassafras tree are gathered, dried, and ground to a powder. Only a few tablespoons of the powder will thicken a whole pot of Gumbo and give it a flavor that’s spicy and pleasant. The filé must always be added after the pot is removed from the fire. If allowed to boil, it becomes stringy and unpalatable. Okra and filé should never be used together in a Gumbo or it will be as thick as mud. The Creoles in New Orleans used filé only in the wintertime, when fresh okra was not available but many Cajuns prefer filé gumbo year-round. They pass a big bowl of filé around at the table, so that all the guests may take as much as they want.
The Indians also supplied dried bay leaves (laurel), an essential flavoring element in most Creole soups and stews. At the old French Market there were always several Choctaws sitting in the shade of the arcade, peddling their small caches of filé and dried bundles of bay leaves.
On several visits to Bayou Lacombe a few years ago I was fortunate enough to meet one of the last of those Indian filé makers. His name was Nick Ducre, and he was over eighty-five, very proud, wise and independent. He owned a few acres of very valuable land on the banks of the bayou. Rich folks had built up bayou estates all around him, but he clung to his land and kept it in a primitive state with plenty of game-coons, possums, squirrels, rabbits, and even a few deer. A great story teller, he told us much about the good old days in the early part of the century. Once a month he would take a schooner across the lake to New Orleans and sell his filé and bay leaves at the market at the New Basin Canal. He would sell out in one day, buy himself a pint of whiskey, and sail for home that night, a happy Indian.
At our last parting Nick gave me a sample jar of his homemade filé, and I made a pot of gumbo with part of it. Because I didn’t realize just how strong it was, I overdid it. That gumbo got so thick, the stirring spoon stood upright in it. I have saved the rest of that filé as a memento of one of the best Indians I ever knew.
So whenever you eat gumbo filé, give a thought to the almost vanished Choctaws of Lacombe. filé of a commercial grade can be purchased at any grocery store in New Orleans and in the Cajun country, but the homemade kind is stronger and tastier. If you can’t find an Indian source, you can make it yourself by pounding dried sassafras leaves with pestle and mortar. And while you’re at it, pound up a few bay leaves for a terrific flavoring element.
The Choctaws and their Filé are long gone from the French Market, which is now little more than a tourist trap to purchase Mardi Gras beads, T-shirts, and a million varieties of hot sauce. It’s still a must stop though, if just to feel the history of the old French Market.
Here is a quote from Leah Chase regarding Filé from the 1978 publication Creole Feast by Nathaniel Burton & Rudy Lombard:
I don’t buy the filé powder for my gumbo off the shelves. My daddy makes it for me. He grinds it himself and it is perfect because it is pure sassafras. He has sassafras trees and he dries the leaves. The filé from a store will have maybe a little bay leaf in it and it’s much weaker. Mine is pure sassafras, nothing mixed in, and it’s always fresh and strong. Daddy sends it to me in little mayonnaise bottles.
How to make homemade Filé Powder
Locate a Sassafras tree and take some branches containing the younger, more tender leaves.
Hang the branches outside to dry (preferably out of the direct sun) for about one week.
When the leaves are completely dry, remove the leaves from the stems and pulverize very well in a mortar and pestle, or an electric coffee grinder as I did.
Pass the powder through a very fine sieve, or a metal coned coffee filter as I did. It was a painstaking process as the mesh was too fine, but it worked to remove all of the little twigs, and tough pieces.
Store in an airtight container and keep out of the sunlight.
I feel a Filé Gumbo in Nola Cuisine’s very near future, I will keep you posted.
**Update** I recently noticed a container of Tony Chachere’s File powder at the store and picked some up. It’s the real deal, pure Sassafras, just like my homemade. Highly recommended!
Good show, Danno !!!! Some things cannot ever be forgotton. I can see ole Danno paddling his pirouge up to the French Market and setting up his File’ stand. We need more of that.
Comment by Bill Moran — July 4, 2006 @ 9:20 am
if you can’t find a sassafras tree (go past slidell over the state line into mississippi, good ones can be found there), head down to Venice. look for real file on tables at some of the local restauarants (uh, there’s not very many and they are not fancy. ask them if miss muriel made the file. if she did, convince them to sell/give to you. it’s the real deal (miss muriel is the one who told me about where to pick leaves in mississippi). and if you treat it right (the no sunlight/ airtight, it will stay fresh for a very, very long time never lose that beautiful green color. you’ll never eat that brown stuff again.
Comment by connie oconnor — December 4, 2006 @ 5:42 am
I have many, many sassafras’ trees available, love the thickness of okra and sassafras. I want a true gumbo recipe. I am using chicken, italian sausage, shrimp, tomatoes, a roux made with flour, butter, seafood broth (made from boiling the shrimp shells), onions, garlic, bay leaves, salt, pepper. It is wonderful…Is sassafras toxic in any way?…Also “laurel” mentioned…is that toxic. We had several varieties of “laurel” available and also it is called “mountain laurel”….called “mauntain ivy”….does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy…same thing?..
Comment by Linda — February 12, 2007 @ 11:37 pm
you could just buy zatarans pure file. its just sassafras root. that other shit isnt file. file isnt brown. they sell that shit up north to people who have no idea what they’re buying.
Comment by adam — June 27, 2007 @ 4:51 pm
Adam - sometimes it’s about learning how to make something yourself. By the way, File is dried Sassafras leaves, not root.
Comment by Danno — June 27, 2007 @ 5:41 pm
Thank you for this information. I fully intend to make the most insane gumbo using nice sassafras file for a very special lady. Your blog was a big help.
Comment by Julian — July 10, 2007 @ 11:01 am
question,,my mom came across a plastic bag in basement containing some sassafras roots she dug about 12 years ago,they are clean,no mold, smell good though a little weak .i geuss its good ,and safe, is there a chance of it being unsafe to make tea from it?
Comment by dennis — November 9, 2007 @ 4:07 pm
Pick the leaves befor the firstcold snap. My grandfather always harvested his leaved the last full moon in August. The nutients are still in the leaves. I hang the branches to dry in an old shed, and at Thanksgiving, when we all get together in Louisiana, we clean out the twigs, crumble the leaves by hand, picking out the leaf stems. Then we use a spice mill to grind them, and a strainer to remove the pieces. All that is left is the fine powder, and the best Filé we can get. No one really expects to get rich on this, but we do it for tradition, and really enjoy the making as much as the eating of it.
If a tree is not near, replant it before spring in the new location, before the budding begins, while it is still dormant. Usually you can find a few younger plants near the older, as the roots run, and offshoots develop.
Comment by Gene — November 24, 2007 @ 4:15 pm
it`s great to hear all this file` talk,this is somthing some folks will love to hear.via: tony cachere…
you want some real file` then you harvest it on the full moon of august…….
Comment by michel colman — November 25, 2007 @ 7:10 pm
Before you go chowing on the roots, check out the wikipedia article on them. Jest say they’re no FDA approved!
Comment by Joe — November 27, 2007 @ 10:44 pm
do you sell your file….I sure need some!!
Comment by audrey johnson — March 6, 2008 @ 1:34 pm
Is there any place in the Boston,Ma. area that I can get any Gumbo file. My father was from Villi Platt area.
Gerry Fontenot
Comment by gerald fontenot — March 7, 2008 @ 10:44 pm
Gerry,
Sassafras grows in Mass. take a walk in a state park and grind your own. Look at wikipedia for a picture to identify leaves, you can’t mistake it. Up here in the North the trees only grow about 10 feet max, more like a shrub. The 3″ diameter trunks are usually twisted or gnarly.
The leaves are not toxic or carcinogenic. The root bark is used to make sassafras tea. The root contains safrole which has been shown to cause cancer in the livers of mice. Safrole is also a precursor to the illicit drug “Ecstasy”. They don’t collect sassafras to make the drug..they use synthetic safrole.
Comment by Jon — April 20, 2008 @ 5:21 pm
I HAVE A TON OF SASAFRASS TREES ON MY PROPERTY AND I’M GONNA TRY THIS AT MY EARLIEST CHANCE!!!
Comment by Phil — May 16, 2008 @ 11:57 pm
I brought back a supply from my only trip to New Orleans from Alberta Canada and I have recently run out. I am hoping to find a source. I am pretty sure that what I bought was the real McCoy because of its color and the fact that it was bought on a Plantation tour. I won’t be able to make my gumbo until I can replenish my non-existent supply. The okra we get is not my ‘cup of tea’ so can anyone help???
Comment by Angie Hasenhundl — July 21, 2008 @ 3:18 pm
I was tearing down a fence a few days ago and found three sassafras trees. I just made some file. This is the best I’ve ever had
Comment by Matt — August 17, 2008 @ 8:24 pm
You can find Filé here.
http://www.cajunspice.com/seasoning/
Comment by Jon — September 2, 2008 @ 12:36 pm
Gerry, I have lots of sassafrass leaves in my Plymouth, ma yard. If you send me an address, I’ll mail you some and you can make your own!
Comment by Sharon — September 14, 2008 @ 4:40 pm
*sigh* How do I find a sassafrass tree here in Arizona?
Definately times I miss being home in Louisiana.
Jerry
Comment by jarizona — September 28, 2008 @ 5:22 pm
Danno, People must take FDA warnings about chemical contents with a grain of salt. They tend to slant things toward the medical community and away from traditional practices. The Safronole used in experiment is pure and without the synergistic compounds in the leaves. Furthermore as they did with sacchrine they give the rats enough to to equal humans eating 2000 trees. Its all about the money… Jay
Comment by Jay — October 19, 2008 @ 10:42 am
The reasoning behind the FDA warnings concerning safrole has nothing to do with cancer and everything to do with the use of safrole in the production of MDMA. Unfortunately for you traditionalists, this is not an unommon practice. The same sorts of things were done to ban ephedrine and pseudoephedrine to derail the production of methamphetamines. Even though those two compounds are generally safe if taken reasonably and without other supplements, they were banned. Take this to heart; Tylenol killed more people (acetominophen) that year then sudafed. Unfortunately for the US Government, so many natural compounds (nutmeg, bay, dill, the list goes on forever) are also used in the production of illicit compounds. Just so you know….Yes, the above poster is correct, the amount of safrole pumped into those rats was the equivalent of a human eating the dried roots of several sassy tress. Pretty ridiculous if you ask me, Uncle Sam just could have been honest instead of trumping the “cancer” card.
Comment by Joe — December 1, 2008 @ 12:44 am
I believe that “laurel” is bay leaves. At least, in Spanish it is; bay leaves are called “hojas de laurel.” (reply to Linda, Feb 12 2007)
Comment by stefani — December 4, 2008 @ 10:27 pm