A True Cajun Delicacy
Zataran’s Microwaveable bowl is a treat for the mouth and a feast for the eyes. Gumbo, for those of you that don’t know, is a cajun dish kind of like soup with all sorts of goodies in it. This particular gumbo has sausage, rice, even this stuff called oprah! Oprah is a green slimy vegetable that sounds pretty gross if you think about it, but it’s actually quite good. I typically only like soup with chicken and/or noodles in it but let me tell you, I was pleasantly surprised with the quality and authenticity of Zataran’s gumbo! If you’ve ever been to New Orleans, you know that people there eat gumbo pretty much for every meal. I’m sure that if you replaced their everyday gumbo with this gumbo, they wouldn’t even be able to tell a difference!
First of all, the packaging is what caught my eye at the store. It is bright red and overall very colorful. I’m sick of packaging not being colorful. I don’t want to eat food with packaging that has no color! I’m a pretty outgoing person and enjoy lots of different colors, and Zataran’s gumbo was just what the doctor ordered. After you take out the bowl from the packaging, it becomes a little sad because the bowl itself is just plain black. I felt a little betrayed because the packaging was so colorful. Definitely going to have to dock it some points for that one. It is covered in a layer of plastic and you are instructed to create a slit down the middle before cooking it. This is also where the item stumbles a little bit. Me, like most other Americans, only own plasticware. I usually can’t afford to buy the kind with knives included, so all I have is plastic spoons. As you can imagine, it is pretty difficult to cut things with a spoon. Helpful tip, if you turn the spoon around you can stab at the plastic film with the handle. It works pretty well in my honest opinion.
Cooking the bowl can be a fairly daunting task if you don’t know what you’re doing. I consider myself to be really great in the kitchen, and even I had some trouble. First you have to put it in the microwave, pretty simple right? Well then halfway through you have to STOP and take it out of the microwave to stir it! Give me a break!! When I was taking the bowl out I touched the bottom on accident and almost burned myself. If you ask me, there should at least be some sort of warning on the container at the very least. After that you put it back in the microwave you have to start it again and wait for it to be done. A little confusing, and i’m definitely going to have to dock it a few more points for that.
The bowl is bursting with flavor. You can almost taste the New Orleans streets with every bite you take. I wouldn’t be surprised if Zataran himself made this gumbo in his basement! It is also kind of spicy, and I like to eat pretty spicy stuff. About halfway through I had to open another Mr. Pibb just to get the fire out of my mouth! Also, it isn’t nearly salty enough, and I had to go into my personal salt stash to give it that extra, BAM!, as Emeril Lasagna would say.
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