REMEMBER THE GUMBO! Thinking of Hurricane Katrina and the rescue workers flocking to help its victims, I remember the generosity of some folks from Louisiana who brought culinary relief to the Big Apple after the September 11 attacks. Here's how it's described in the October 2001 special issue of The Tribeca Trib (PDF):

On Friday night, Sept. 21, a band of volunteers from Louisiana were serving rescue workers from a mobile kitchen set up on Greenwich Street at the corner of Reade. They called themselves the Gumbo Crew. Shawn Bradley, a 37-year-old electrician from New Orleans, wearing an American flag bandanna wrapped around his head, was tending a vat of okra stew on a portable stove. A table was laid with platters of rice, bread and hot sauce.

"I saw 'em on TV eatin' hamburgers one too many days," he said. "I said, I'm gonna go up there and cook some gumbo and do some good. Gumbo does something special. It's good for the soul."

Bradley, his wife and a crew of seven friends drove up from New Orleans. Next to their makeshift kitchen was a small trailer, which Bradley uses for his business. It sported a freshly painted sign: "Gumbo Crew: New Orleans to New York."

"I love to cook gumbo," Bradley said. "We do a lot of tailgating at LSU games."

The crew's goal was to serve 1,000 bowls before they headed home on Sunday or Monday. They planned to take turns sleeping in Bradley's covered pickup truck parked across the street.

The team had driven first to Canal and West Streets, but found no place to set up. "Then a couple of cops saw us," said Robert Quichoco, 28, who flew in from Boston to join Bradley's crew. "When we told them what we were doing, one of them said, 'We know a place and we'll give you a police escort there.'"

"We just set up and started cooking," said Bradley. "We'll cook until they run us off or we run out of food."

A city official had scolded them for setting up without a permit, but Bradley wouldn't budge. "If someone wants to stop us, let 'em try. I'm cookin' the gumbo or goin' to jail."

But the Big Easy crew was no match for Big Apple officials. By 1 a.m., the Health Department had shut down the ragin' Cajuns.

The following afternoon, Transit Officer Richard Starks, working security at the rescue site, stood with two fellow officers where Bradley had cooked the night before. "Where'd the gumbo go?" he asked. "I had three bowls yesterday. It's good to get a hot meal that's not fast food."

I remember seeing the Gumbo Crew amidst the chaos. It was a welcome sight for smoke-sore eyes. (I took a picture but it'll take me a while to post it here.) On the back of the truck was an acrostic:

Goodness
Unity
Mankind
Beloved
Optimism

Citizenship
Resolve
Everyone's
World

Is there a way for New Yorkers to reciprocate the gesture with a Bagel Bunch or a Pastrami Posse--coordinated with officials and including veggie and gluten-free options, of course? I hope so!

Here's more about the Gumbo Crew.

Editor's Note: You can see the picture at the entry for September 4, 2005.