Wild Duck Gumbo

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As I have stated before, you will find a lot of Creole/Cajun recipes here. Well, here is another one: Wild Duck Gumbo. I bought a book over the summer called “In a Cajun Kitchen” and was introduced to teal duck (no clue). I have a coworker that is an avid duck hunter so I asked him what it was. Next thing I know is that 3 months later he is telling me that he has some duck for me in the freezer. Crap, what am I going to do with duck when I’m not a fan?
So, I start digging in cookbooks and looking online and I found one, but to my dismay it didn’t have okra in it. What? Gumbo has to have okra or it’s not gumbo. The name of the dish came from the African word for okra; ki-ngombo. How can you have gumbo without okra? So, I added okra and now its gumbo. Yea!
People look at me strange and tell me to move there when I say that I love Louisiana. My response is that I would if I could. I figured out the other day why I love it and the food so much. It’s a true melting pot of cultures and there is an aura of mystery about the whole state. The culture is also a draw for me. I was watching a tv show the other day that was about the Creole/Cajun culture and noticed that it is a lot like the family that I grew up around. I noticed that the cookbook that I’ve previously mentioned talked a lot about family and knowing the family stories and traditions. I’m used to sitting at my family reunions and listening to the “elders” talk about the old ways and how things were done. Love it. My last post was about my Aunt Dotty and she was the greatest to get the old stories from. The best (and saddest) I remember is her talking about the raft that was carrying supplies to the camp during the Flood of 1927 and it flipping. Their ice, lemons, and sugar to make lemonade went floating away. Every time I heard it, it made me heartbroken.
Anyways, here is my take on Wild Duck Gumbo. I hope you like, my family and I did.




Wild Duck Gumbo

6 wild teal duck breast
½ c. cooking oil
2/3 c. all-purpose flour
1 lb. smoked sausage, sliced
2 c. chopped onion
1 ½ c. chopped green pepper
1 ½ c. sliced celery
2 Tbsps. minced fresh parsley
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 ½ c. frozen cut okra
2 bay leaves
2 Tbsps. Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ tsps. pepper
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried thyme
2 Tbsps. Cajun seasoning
2 quarts water
Hot cooked rice


In a Dutch oven over medium heat, brown duck in batches in oil. Remove and set aside. Discard all but 2/3 cup drippings. Add flour to drippings; cook and stir over medium heat until brown, 12-14 minutes. Add sausage, onion, green pepper, celery, parsley and garlic. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add next nine ingredients; mix well. Cut duck breast into cubes and add; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 60-75 minutes or until duck is tender. Simmer 5-10 minutes or until heated through. Remove bay leaves. Serve with rice.