Nouvelle Gumbo Z’Herbes

The past few years have seen a revival of this great old tradition—the green gumbo of Lent. It was almost dead, but now quite a few restaurants offer it.

The traditional gumbo z’herbes includes a large number (but always an odd number) of greens, cooked down in a broth that, in its most stringent form, is nothing more than the water in which the greens and some savory vegetables were cooked. Most cooks, however, use a stock made with seafood or even seasoning meats. (The most famous