Jody Ray
The final product, a traditional West African okra stew—a predecessor to Louisiana's beloved gumbo.
In this episode, the DETOURS team is joined by Founder/Creator of Exit Strategy Jody Ray to discuss his experience traveling to Benin, West Africa and making gumbo's predecessor, West African okra stew, which he wrote about for our July 2023 Cuisine Issue. In the conversation he walks us through what it was like purchasing ingredients for the stew in Dantokpa Market, the largest open-air market in West Africa, with the help of his guide Jean-Paul Houndagnon and Jean-Paul's mother Augustine. We also discuss what it was like being invited into Augustine's home to learn how the dish is made, and the many differences and similarities between gumbo and okra stew—including okra stew's incorporation of cheese curds, which while unfamiliar, we agree sound like a potentially tasty addition.
Reading/Watching List
Here, find articles and videos that we either mentioned in the episode, or that we think might enrich and/or further the conversations we had.
How to Make West African Okra Stew : Searching for the origins of Louisiana gumbo in Benin
Read Jody Ray's story about shopping for and cooking traditional West African okra stew in Benin from our July 2023 Cuisine Issue, here.
Jody Ray
A traditional West African okra stew requires two to three pounds of okra, a vegetable used in Louisiana gumbos as well, that was originally brought to North America by enslaved Africans.
Exit Strategy: West African Okra Stew
Travel to Benin along with Jody, fellow traveler/photographer Ben Dome, and local guide Jean-Paul Houndagnon by watching this video of them making West African okra stew.
Exit Strategy: Searching for the Origins of Gumbo in Dantokpa Market
Follow along as Jody, Ben, Jean-Paul, and Augustine venture into West Africa's largest open-air market to "make groceries" for a traditional Beninese okra stew.
BBC World's Table : Gumbo's long journey from West Africa
Read another story by Jody Ray about shopping for and cooking okra stew in Benin, this one from BBC's World's Table, here.
Ben Dome, courtesy of Jody Ray
Photographer Ben Dome (front), guide Jean-Paul Houndagnon (middle), and writer Jody Ray (back) walking through Dantokpa Market in Benin wearing traditional West African garments.
Finally, Some Gumbo Weather! : A guide to getting the best out of gumbo season
If this conversation made you hungry for some gumbo, here is our collection of recipes and stories about the beloved Louisiana dish.
Lucie Monk Carter
Meet Your Co-Hosts
Photo by Raegan Labat
James Fox-Smith
James Fox-Smith is the Publisher of Country Roads magazine, and has been on the masthead since 1995 when he followed a Louisiana girl (Country Roads' Associate Publisher Ashley Fox-Smith) to her hometown of St. Francisville to take over her mother's magazine. The past two decades have made this Aussie into a true Louisianan, as passionate and knowledgable about the intricacies of this region's culture as any bayou-born Cajun. Overseeing the company for much of its forty-year history, he's worn almost every hat the magazine has to offer, from sales to editorial to marketing—and writes a monthly publisher's column, titled "Reflections" which you can peruse, here. You also might catch him hosting the Louisiana Public Broadcasting's weekly series Art Rocks!—which spotlights artists, performance, culture, literature, history and the impact of art in our world.
Jordan LaHaye Fontenot
Jordan LaHaye Fontenot is the Managing Editor of Country Roads magazine, and has been a part of the editorial team since 2018. Born and raised in the heart of Acadiana, she came to Country Roads with a passion for Louisiana storytelling. She holds a degree in English from Louisiana State University, where she received the 2018 Sarah Sue Goldsmith Award for Nonfiction. In addition to her work at Country Roads, she has published stories in regional and international publications including inRegister, Atlas Obscura, and the Oxford American. Her first book Home of the Happy: A murder on the Cajun Prairie, will be published by Mariner Books in 2025.
Alexandra Kennon
Alexandra Kennon is the Arts & Entertainment Editor at Country Roads since 2020, and has been writing and photographing stories about Southern culture, cuisine, history, and art for the magazine since 2016. She holds degrees in Journalism and Theatre Arts from Loyola University New Orleans, where she was Managing Editor of Pacemaker-winning university newspaper The Maroon, and could typically be found flitting between the newsroom and black box theatre. She has acted in productions ranging from independent festival films to Tennessee Williams world-premiere stage productions, and previously led historical, culinary, and cultural tours of New Orleans. Her book Classic Restaurants of New Orleans, published by Arcadia/The History Press with a foreword by Walter Isaacson, is available most places one finds books.
