Poppy Tooker

Poppy Tooker

“Have mercy, Poppy!,” Wynton Marsalis begs on an upcoming edition of CBS Sunday Morning as he samples a delicious gumbo cooked by Poppy Tooker, champion of Louisiana's culinary customs, cookbook author, and host of the NPR-affiliated “Louisiana Eats.” The CBS Sunday Morning segment with Poppy and Wynton will air this coming Sunday (Feb. 3)—SUPERBOWL SUNDAY! Both agree that Creole gumbo is the emblematic dish of New Orleans and the best gumbo usually comes from your mama’s kitchen. As CBS' cultural correspondent, Wynton Marsalis personally requested an audience with Poppy in her New Orleans kitchen to bring to life his “Ode To Gumbo” segment, which investigates the dish that strums the heartstrings of every New Orleans native.
Wynton is far from the first to fall under the spell of Poppy’s gumbo. She trounced Bobby Flay in a gumbo “Throwdown” on the Food Network and penned the definitive article on gumbo for Fine Cooking magazine, sharing her perspective and expertise as a cooking teacher specializing in Louisiana's heritage foods. Poppy believes that knowing the story behind any dish just makes it taste better. In the case of gumbo each
rich bowl is spiced with the history and lore of the people whose hands originally stirred the New Orleans’ ancient black iron pots. Her commitment to sharing and spreading the historic content behind Louisiana's iconic dishes led Tabasco to award her “Crescent City Farmers Market Cookbook” a special award for historic content.
Here is the “Ode To Gumbo” recipe that Wynton and I cooked for CBS News Sunday Morning on SUPERBOWL SUNDAY. Enjoy!