unclebillspice.com

Lionel Key says, “gumbo filé is a thickening and a seasoning that we use for our gumbos here in Louisiana.” In his thirties, Lionel learned the art of making filé—which involves curing and pulverizing the leaves of the sassafras tree—from his great-uncle, Joseph William Ricard. “Uncle Bill,” who was born blind passed on tradition said to have been established by the Choctaw Indians. And he handed down the tools that his own uncle made by hand in 1904.

While Lionel refuses to divulge family secrets, such as the harvest season for the leaves and how long he cures them, he takes his processing operation, his mortar and pestle, on the road to farmers’ markets and museums. Lionel is modest, but his vocation is rare enough that Slow Food included fresh hand-ground filé on its Ark of Taste. What’s more, Lionel recently convinced his eighty-two-year-old mother, previously in the camp of Louisiana cooks who prefer okra or roux thickeners, to try his filé. She’s a convert.

Handmade Filé

Handmade Filé, which is also known as Gumbo Filé and Filé Powder, is a powder made from the leaves of the Sassafras Tree. The Choctaw Indians of Louisiana are believed to be the first users of sassafras, a type of laurel tree native to North America. The tender leaves of the Sassafras were dried and pounded into a fine powder, which was used as a flavoring and thickening agent. When ingested, the powder causes the body to perspire, and so it was used medicinally to break fevers. The Choctaw originally sold this powerful herb to the Creoles of New Orleans in the earliest days of the French Market.

Sassafras

Handmade Filé powder is extremely rare and currently only a few producers still follow the time-honored fashion of hand harvesting, drying and curing the sassafras leaves before pounding them with a pestle in a traditional cypress mortar. Filé produced in this manner is fresher, evident in it’s bright green color and has a more vibrant flavor.

Lionel Key, of Uncle Bill’s Spices, currently produces Filé using the same recipe as well as the same mortar and pestle that his blind Uncle Bill used when he began making the powder in 1904. The spice is currently offered for sale from Uncle Bill’s Spices at the Crescent City Farmer’s Market in New Orleans and at the Red Stick Market in Baton Rouge. A handful of small producers in tiny communities in the Cajun country of Southwestern Louisiana also continue to make the traditional Filé.

Uncle Bill Spice Famous Creole File`

I really enjoy informing people about Gumbo File`. I explain what it is made from and who started this process. The Choctaw Indians were the first ones to do this. In the 1700 and 1800 the French and Spanish settlers came to Louisiana and they were shown the original way it was done. I am of true Louisiana Creole heritage. My fathers line was African, French and Mayan Indian from Guatemala. My mothers line was French, African, Spanish, German and Jamaican. This unique family learned to make Gumbo file` from the Native Indian and this has been handed down to me. I exhibit at Festivals, Workshops and Farmers Markets.

With much pride in Lionel voice, he he talks about his Great Uncle, Joseph Willie Richard who originally founded Uncle Bill's Creole Filé, in 1904. Uncle Willie was born, blind, in 1894. As a young child he worked cutting sugarcane on the Alma Plantation in Lakeland, La. Waiting to marry until he could support a family, he developed his skills for making Creole filé as well as brooms and mops. At the age of thirty-four, he finally felt comfortable enough to begin his own family. He raised four children, three of which, Lionel proudly told me, later went on to college and are teachers on the university level.

I have been making Gumbo File` for 25 years and have kept my family's tradition alive and well. I'm truly grateful for Uncle Bill teaching me how to make file` and this is a labor of love for me to be able to carry on the family tradition. I hope my sons will one day be able to carry on the tradition or maybe a niece or nephew. This has been in my family for one hundred-five years since its inception in 1904. It was basically made for use in gumbo to season and thicken. File` can also be used in soups, sauces, gravy and stews to thicken and season. It can be used to marinate meat, poultery and fish . I can be reached at (225) 388-0893 E-Mail fileman51@aol.com.

Sassafras Tress

FAVORITE QUOTE

"A lot of people make File`, but they don't make it like me".

"My Boo".

"Thank God for Uncle Bill."

"Pa Pa Ric"

“It can't be described, I don’t think. You know, you have to taste it. In other words, it has a distinct taste and flavor of its own…there’s nothing that I can think of that comes close to what filé tastes like.”