Annual Gumbo Soup
My favorite soup is gumbo soup at Blue Bayou Restaurant. Its rich, buttery flavors blend well with the spices woven throughout. Soft notes give it a zesty zing without being overpowering. The robust flavors pair well with the soft, mild vegetables and the savory chunks of meats. The gumbo itself is so thick that the meat and vegetables are suspended throughout the mixture, unlike traditional soups where they sink to the bottom.
What really makes the dish is the dollop of rice that rests on top of the soup. The optimal way to eat it is to grab a hefty spoonful of the gumbo then sneak on a little bit of rice on top. The restaurant also serves unlimited yeasty rolls throughout the dining experience, and I make sure to eat my money’s worth. The ratio of rice to gumbo is almost always in favor of the gumbo, so there are a couple bites at the end with no rice. I decide to make use of the fluffy rolls and sop up the extra liquid with pieces of bread.
What makes this soup even more special is that the only place on earth where it’s available is at the Blue Bayou restaurant in Disneyland. The restaurant itself is a visual masterpiece. It’s located inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and transports you to a starry night along the bayou. Paper lanterns strung above the dinner guests are one of the few light sources at the restaurant, other than the “moonlight” of course.
The soup ingredients, along with most of the foods at the restaurant, are a mystery to most because it is too dark to properly see what you are eating. The soup isn’t even on the menu, so there is no ingredients list. I’ve been told that the soup may contain seafood, which is something I absolutely despise. However, I can’t see quite what I’m eating and there are no fishy tastes, so I happily eat away.
I only am able to eat at the Blue Bayou about once a year because I don’t go to Disneyland that often and it is a pricy restaurant. The scarcity of the gumbo makes it an even more tantalizing treat when I return. Each year when I eat at the restaurant, I raise my hopes thinking that Disney will finally add it as an entrée item, but every year I am disappointed. Instead, I just have to savor every bite of the gumbo in the small cup they serve until I return next year.
