At the Walk-On’s Independence Bowl in Shreveport yesterday, a new record was set for the world’s largest gumbo ever cooked. Chef John Folse lead a team in putting the gumbo together. When the gumbo was official weighed, Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser says it tipped the scales at just over 6800 pounds.
“We put over 3000 pounds of great Louisiana seafood in there and all the great roux and all of Chef Folse’s special ingredients and we actually beat the world record by a thousand pounds,” said Nungesser.
Nungesser said to seal in the record, all of the gumbo had to be eaten. About 11,000 bowls were served to those in attendance.
“It couldn’t be wasted, so we had some long lines at the Independence Bowl with everybody chowing down on some great gumbo. And a great opportunity to showcase Louisiana for the world record books,” said Nungesser.
Chef John Folse said they started the process at 10pm the night before the game to have it ready by 9am. He explained onions, celery, garlic and bell pepper alone was 600 lbs, with no shortage of Louisiana seafood and even some gator meat.
“985 pounds of shrimp, 600 pounds of catfish, 230 pounds of crabmeat, 50 pounds of crawfish tails, 480 pounds of roux,” explained Folse, breaking down some of the ingredients.
Proceeds from the sale of the gumbo, just over $50,000, went toward the Fisher House to help house military families of patients in military and VA hospitals.
