email: gsreports@texindbar.org Published By Texas Independent Bar Association Austin, Texas 78767 Web Page: www.texindbar.org Copyright 2013 Texas Independent Bar Association and the following Commentators Alan Curry Helena Faulkner Jeffrey S. Garon Lee Haidusek John G. Jasuta Charles Mallin Gail Kikawa McConnell Angela J. Moore Editor-in-Chief: John G. Jasuta Doug O Brien Greg Sherwood David A. Schulman Kevin P. Yeary Clicking a hyperlink (such as a judge s name) will load the linked opinion or document in your web browser. It is TIBA s policy that commentators do not summarize or comment on cases in which they were involved. Volume 21, Number 41 ~ Monday, October 14, 2013 (No. 982)
Featured Article National Gumbo Day According to Wikipedia, the on-line encyclopedia, Gumbo is a dish that originated in southern Louisiana during the 18th century. True or not, gumbo is the official cuisine of the state of Louisiana. My research was unable to locate information regarding the creation or history of October 12th as National Gumbo Day, so I guess we ll have to leave it as an unofficial holiday. I won t call it a true national holiday, as I doubt either the dish or the day is celebrated in the auld sod of my youth, our nations s northern climes. I also have a sneaking suspicion that, like Texas beloved Mexican cuisine, good gumbo in my ancestral village, up there in the Adirondack Mountains, will be as difficult to find. I don t care how good my cousins think the stuff they call gumbo is, nothing that comes out of a can will rival anything created step-by-step in a large cook pot. Gumbo, it s been said, typically consists primarily of a strongly-flavored stock, meat or shellfish, a thickener, and seasoning vegetables. Art Blondin & David Schulman at their food trailer. Austin 2010 David A. Schulman, one of the founders of TIBA, has been a co-author of this report for many years. He was a member of the Court of Criminal Appeals' staff in 1991-1993, and has been lead counsel in hundreds of direct appeals and habeas corpus proceedings. David reviews every published criminal case from the Court of Criminal Appeals and every Court of Appeals on a daily basis. He has been Board Certified in Criminal Law since 1991 and was one of the first attorneys to become Board Certified in both Criminal Law and Criminal Appellate law. See his website at www.davidschulman.com. TIBA s Texas Law Reporter - Vol. 21, No. 41 - October 14, 2013 - Page 1
Although that is a correct summary, it s about as specific as saying that a sandwich typically includes bread with something in the middle. In A Short History of Gumbo, writer Stanley Dry and the Southern Foodways Alliance wrote that: Of all the dishes in the realm of Louisiana cooking, gumbo is the most famous and, very likely, the most popular. Gumbo crosses all class barriers, appearing on the tables of the poor as well as the wealthy. Although ingredients might vary greatly from one cook to the next, and from one part of the state to another, a steaming bowl of fragrant gumbo is one of life s cherished pleasures, as emblematic of Louisiana as chili is of Texas. Dry s short history covers 200+ years and some different styles of gumbo. He also wrote: Traditionally, gumbos have been divided into two large categories -- those thickened with okra and those thickened with fil. According to some accounts, before the advent of refrigeration and freezers, okra was the preferred thickening agent for gumbo, while fil was a substitute used only in the off-season when okra wasn t available. A number of years ago, an old girlfriend and I spent nearly a week in New Orleans at a criminal law conference. I ve always referred to that trip as the Gumbo Tour, because we had gumbo at every meal, every day, but breakfast. I cannot begin to tell you how many different types we consumed, but I will tell you it was all good. We had shrimp gumbo, a spicy old style Cajun gumbo. We had Creole gumbo, which the chef told us came from his grandma. We had filé gumbo and sausage gumbo. Gotta love that Andouille sausage! We had chicken gumbo; some sausage and chicken gumbo, and lots of fish gumbo. We had low end gumbo at several spots and high end gumbo at some well known restaurants. Believe it or not, my favorite was at the gumbo kiosk in the old mall on the river. TIBA s Texas Law Reporter - Vol. 21, No. 41 - October 14, 2013 - Page 2
Those of you readers who know me beyond our mutual legal experiences, probably know that I have worked in the food service industry off and on since I was 15 years old. I ve bussed my share of tables and cooked my share of meals. As I have often told people, I used to work for a living before I was a lawyer. I ve been involved in several different food service operations (I won t glorify them with the restaurant moniker) including burger joints, like the 3 Frogs Café on the Big Island of Hawaii, and a food trailer here in Austin selling German food such as bratwurst, schnitzel and even home made sauerkraut (Jasuta still raves about our kraut dogs). I learned my way around the kitchen as a teenager hired as a cook s helper in a busy (low end) restaurant. I learned to cook in my 30s when I was in a group of men called the Bullfroggers (all three of the Frogs in the café were in that group), and I was one of the guys who cooked the meals on our fishing trips. Once you ve figured out how to cook dinner for 27 men using a charcoal BBQ and a propane cook stove, you can easily cook for big groups. Despite my acquired cooking skills, around our house, I m not the head cook, as my spousal unit ( Madgie ) is an incredible cook. She also makes the best Gumbo I ve ever had -- anywhere. So, for our National Gumbo Day party on Saturday evening, Madgie whipped up a large pot of gumbo with some Gulf sea trout, turkey ham, venison sausage, smoked turkey, mud bugs and poblanos peppers. Although the photo to the right isn t from this past Saturday night, it demonstrates that, at least at our house, it is appropriate to have a Hawaiian beer with some home made gumbo. So, if you missed National Gumbo Day, feel free to have your own delayed celebration. Have some gumbo tonight. However, you like it, gumbo is good for the soul. National Gumbo Day is a national holiday I can get behind. Bon Appetit. TIBA s Texas Law Reporter - Vol. 21, No. 41 - October 14, 2013 - Page 3