Phoenix
Gumbo
from
Ol' Owuo
SAVORING LA RUE MACABRE IS
A LOCAL WALDON STUDIOS
CO-AFFILIATE
By Elliot Mortimer
9 min read.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
UPDATE: 12/30/2025
Ms. Mortimer was originally paid by Waldon Studios to attend the grand opening of Ambrose Nola. She instead chose to write a story on this restaurant, resulting in a breach of contract.
Though she was initially fired for this action, the resultant public outcry from the Rue Macabre community led to her being rehired. We here at Waldon Studios would like to apologize for this betrayal of the Rue Macabre community, and have additionally extended an apology to Ms. Mortimer.
Thank you for your continued patronage.
Lia Waldon
Waldon Studios CEO
La Rue Macabre is to food what Three Portlands is to anart, what Little Havana is to summer, what Eurtec is to, well, technology. As you might have picked up by now, the food here is to die for. Sometimes literally!
You won't find any Ambrose joints or hoity toity Marshall, Carter, and Dark upscale locations in La Rue Macabre, fortunately. Emeril Lagasse and his ilk tend to stick to the Veiled parts of this corner of the world, largely in part to these swamps being home to a very anti-gentrification sentiment among both the living and the dead. That's right, folks take care of each other in here. Be it Papa Legba guiding someone seeking a yarn to be spun to Old Man Nancy, or the Fonteyns being sweet on each other, our little slice of heaven has been able to resist the cynicism of the outside world.
And I wouldn't have it any other way.
Today's Savouring La Rue Macabre edition takes us to Ol' Owuo's; a little shack out in the bayou about fifteen minutes by boat from Jean Lafitte's grave. Ol' Owuo is a former necromancer and current lich who has given up the (if you'll forgive the pun) ghost of the trade and settled down to become an Acadian phoenix farmer and recently, aspiring restaurateur. The location is reservation only, and serves only up to ten guests a night due to its relatively remote location and small size.
It is pretty easy to get turned around in the swamps of La Rue, especially with all the spirits that call it home haunting it. You can ask the ghost of Jean Lafitte for directions, but he will only give you correct instructions in exchange for some money. I tipped him a crisp $20, which he instantaneously converted to more gold for his accursed pile via methods unknown to me, and simply told me to follow the sound of the birds.
Naturally, this being the realm of the spirits, I can guarantee that the instructions Captain Lafitte will give you should you dare to try Ol' Owuo's joint will be different for you, but that is what he told me. Make of that what you will.
I arrived five hours before opening, roughly at 1 PM, as we agreed upon. Ol' Owuo greeted me with a hearty hello, holding the carcass of an Acadian phoenix as he walked out of his shack, smile big on his face. Immediately, I was reminded of Phoenix à La Mode, an Ambrose and MC&D dish I tried during my time at NY Times Cooking, and how they so proudly displayed it for me before taking it back into the kitchen.
Though I had asked how they managed to successfully slay the phoenix and harvest its meat, the waiter quickly changed the topic. I figured I would ask Ol' Owuo his secret. Much to my surprise, he was very forthcoming with his answer; "I ain't gonna lie to you, miss, it's all 'cause of my touch of death. Speaking of, I would love to shake your hand and greet ya, but I'm afraid we will have to settle for wavin'." My question answered, I politely waved back, and followed him into the shack.
The inside, as is traditional when it comes to most of these tiny domiciles in the sticks of La Rue, was larger than it was on the outside, yet it retained a rustic and humble look. The least humble thing about it was the sleek wooden countertop, which served as kitchen island on one side and seating on the other. I took a seat and watched as Ol' Owuo got to work butchering the Acadian phoenix.
He explained to me the subtle differences between Acadian phoenix and Siberian firebird, how despite both of them being naturally found in cold places of the Earth, they took well to warm weather and being farmed. Ol' Owuo told me about the Holy Trinity, which for those who don't live in the Big Easy, consists of celery, onion, and green bell pepper; with garlic serving as the Pope. He is not Christian, but he does believe that those four ingredients together create a symphony that brings one closer to the G-O-single-D.
As La Rue's resident food critic, I have experienced the Holy Trinity and Pope together many times, and as a supertaster, frequently found myself in ecstasy at their unity.
Ol' Owuo told me about his past as he got his mise en place ready: "I used to be quite a nasty fellow. Did all sorts of things to fill my phylactery. Born on a Wednesday, I tell you, all that nsem bone is no good, miss." I told him there were things I regretted about my past as well, but we shouldn't let that define who we are moving into the future. He seemed reticent to accept my appeal, so I left it at that and changed the topic. I asked him about the origins of the dish he was going to make for me, since at the time, I didn't know what he was cooking.1
Ol' Owuo said: "There's lotsa history in this here gumbo I'm makin' for ya. See here; there's two different variations of gumbo: Creole, and Cajun. Cajun is used to refer to the folks who came down here from French Acadia and brought with them the phoenixes I'm usin' to cook for you today. However, the gumbo I specialize in is Creole; which is the term used to refer to the French, Spanish, and Enslaved African folks who settled this here land. But to make things even more complicated, heh, we dunno if gumbo is actually a Choctaw2 dish or a Cajun or Creole invention! Lots'a C's in there, I know, but I hope it ain't too confusin'."
I assured him it wasn't, and kept cooking. We talked more during the four hour cook time of the dish. He told me of his hopes to leave his past behind and use his talent for good. He told me how he felt kinship with the Choctaw; being dragged out of his home and forced to settle elsewhere all those years ago. He told me how he loathed Ambrose and MC&D, calling them 'a blight upon our good world."
He even sang a beautiful lament for me:
Salangadou, Salangadou
Salangadou, Salangadou
Kote piti fi la ye?
Kote piti fi la ye?
Kote piti fi la ye?
Kote piti fi la ye?
La ye?
The lament was a haunting tune, a reminder of the horrors of the slave trade and the irreparable damage done via the bondage of man.
Hours passed.
Eventually, the cook finished, and he happily served me a plate, which I devoured. The taste of Acadian phoenix when compared to Siberian firebird or even chicken or duck is really subtle; more gamey, more subtle and understated. Though I asked Ol' Owuo what his secret spice mix was he refused to tell me, but I could pick out most of what was in there thanks to my gift. I thanked him for his time, and was tempted to give him a hug, but remembered the fact that he is a lich.
I left Ol' Owuo's full, content, and with an idea to copy the man's recipe for your own cooking benefit, dear reader. As for Ol' Owuo's restaurant, you saw the stars up top. You know it's excellent. For about $39 a bowl, prime seating, an exquisite tale, and modest atmosphere, it is very much worth the price.
Without further ado, let's get into my imitation recipe.
As soon as I got back home, I scrambled to the grocery store to buy what I needed to make my own version the next day. Here is my list:
- 2lbs of your protein of choice3
- 1 lb of smoked sausage4
- 12 cloves of garlic, minced (no I am not exaggerating!)
- 2 small or 1 large onion
- 3 stalks of celery
- 1 green bell pepper
- ½ cup + 1tsb of high-temp neutral oil
- ½ cup flour to start with
- 1 tbsp of lard
- Creole Spice mix to taste (Cayenne, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder!)5
- 3-4 cups of Stock (varies on how many vegetables you have)6
- 1 cup of cut okra7
- Cooked rice8
- Green onion for garnish
Instructions:
1. Start by preparing your Holy Trinity. Dice your onion, bell pepper, and celery.
2. Mince your garlic. You can use a food processor, but I used a mortar and pestle alongside a little salt to help crush it.
3. Dice your smoked sausage.
4. Pat your choice of protein dry before rubbing it down with salt and black pepper.
5. Drop a little bit of lard into your Dutch oven and start searing the meat. You don't want to cook it completely, just get a little bit of color on it. And remember, don't crowd the pot. Brown it in batches if you have to.
6. Once done browning, remove the meat and place it aside. You should have a fond on the bottom of the pot.
7. Set the temperature to medium.
8. Add in your flour and oil. You may have to adjust one or both of these so no exact measurements aside from the baseline of ½ cup + 1tsb of high-temp neutral oil and ½ cup flour to start with will be given. What you are making now is called a roux.
9. Keep stirring the roux, or else it will burn. You ideally want it to have the texture of wet sand and the color of chocolate. If it smells like it's about to burn, take it off the heat and keep stirring. If it stops cooking off the heat, put it back on the heat on a lower temperature for a little. Add oil if its too dry, add flour if its too runny. And most importantly, don't stop stirring!
10. Now comes the easier part. Dump in your Holy Trinity and a pinch of salt to help them sweat, and bring the temperature back up to medium if you lowered it. Keep stirring for three minutes.
11. Add in your garlic and keep stirring for one minute.
12. Add in all your stock.
13. Add in as much of the Creole spice blend as your heart desires. I really like spicy food, so I added in about 3 heaping tablespoons.
14. Add in your protein and sausage.
15. Bring up the heat until the mixture comes to a boil, then lower it down to medium and let it simmer, covered, for up to 5 hours.
16. Pat your okra dry, chop it up, then add it to the pot when there is one hour left of cooking. IF you're not able to use okra, don't add the file powder yet.
17. Make white rice when there is 15 minutes left on your timer.
18. As your rice cooks, shred up your protein with two forks. If you used bone-in protein like I did, this would be a good time to get rid of them.
19. Chop up some green onion for garnish. At this point, you can turn the heat off and add the file powder, just make sure to stir thoroughly.
20. Wait a few minutes for it to cool down, then serve over rice, and enjoy!
So what did I learn from my venture into Ol' Owuo's Joint and imitating his recipe? First of all, I learned that the difference in flavor between duck and Acadian phoenix is a chasm; duck is fatty and savory, while Acadian phoenix tastes heartier and smokey. I also got a crash course on gumbo history, something I already knew a decent bit about as a resident Louisianan, but still appreciated Ol' Owuo taking the time to spin a yarn about anyway. I also learned that my partner, Mallory, whom I tasked with making the rice, sucks at making rice. But its okay, I love them anyway.
If you decide to make this recipe imitation, I highly recommend you go with the more premium ingredients. Not only will it be more genuine, it will also likely taste better. Not that what Mallory and I made was bad, heavens no; I like ot think I am adecent cook, but it certainly didn't match up what Ol' Owuo made for me. In short? Delicious. I do recommend the experience, both visiting Ol' Owuo and making this version at home.
My host website's censors will not let me say my opinion on Ambrose Restaurants and why I chose to visit Ol' Owuo instead, but let's just say there's a reason I chose duck to make my version that I was not entirely upfront about. Anyway, that's all for now, dear reader. Toodles!
- E.M.
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