The sassafras tree is easy to spot, with its three different leaf patterns (unlobed oval, bilobed (mitten-shaped), and trilobed (three-pronged). It’s commonly seen anywhere east of the Mississippi basin. As kids we would dig up the roots to make sassafras tea. The roots, as most people know, were also the original flavor for root beer, that is, before being banned in 1960 as a possible carcinogen.

When I was growing up in Louisiana, a purchased powder of the leaves (safe for culinary use) was on our kitchen table any night we had gumbo, added as a sprinkled garnish to each bowl.

When I moved to Tennessee in 1984, gumbo filé (FEE-lay) was initially hard to find on the grocery shelf. I would pick up a bottle anytime I visited the motherland. Each jar of the fine powder — which imparts an earthy flavor that some compare to thyme — lasted me a couple of years before growing stale or being used up completely. Since 1999, after moving to the farm, that changed. Here, we have plenty of sassafras trees, so providing my own filé has become an easy option. And, of course, the commercial product is now easily found at any grocery store.

Making filé is straightforward and simple. It’s one of those perfect homestead projects that allow you to step outside of the stream of commerce, for a moment anyway, and provide for yourself. The process is as easy as harvesting the leaves, drying them, and then pulverizing into a powder.

Last weekend I took to the woods a large container that had held a 100-pound protein tub for sheep. In the work of 10 minutes, I filled the tub with leaves and returned to the barn. Taking a plastic kiddie pool (which we had used as a water source for a flock of ducks), I spread out the leaves to dry in the sun. Today I’ll strip the stems, crush the leaves, and then jar the powder. That full tub will yield only a few ounces of filé. Still, it will be more than enough to enhance a couple of winters’ worth of chicken gumbo.

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Reading this weekend: Hogs Are Up, stories of the land, with digressions (Wes Jackson).

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