‖ filé, n.8 (and a.) U.S. Cookery.
(ˈfiːle, ˈfiːleɪ)
Also 9 felé, filée; 20 (erron.) fillet.
[Louisiana Fr., f. pa. pple. of F. filer to twist.]
Pounded or powdered sassafras leaves used to flavour and thicken soup, esp. gumbo. Freq. in filé gumbo, and also as a postpositive adj., flavoured with filé.
| 1850, etc. [see gumbo filé s.v. *gumbo n. 1 c]. 1866 E. J. Versille Southern Cookery (1867) 18 (heading) Felé Gumbo with oysters. 1885 L. Hearn Cuisine Créole 18 Take the large bones from the pot, and add..a preparation of dried and pounded sassafras leaves, called filée. 1931 W. A. Read Louisiana-French 122 This powder [of sassafras leaves] goes by the name of filé, the past participle of French filer, ‘to twist’. 1941 Louisiana (Writers' Program, Louisiana) 226 Okra, used as an alternative for filé in gumbo. 1946 R. Tallant Voodoo in New Orleans xii. 101 A mixture of gunpowder,..cayenne pepper, BB shots, filé, [etc.]. 1952 H. Williams Jambalaya (sheet music) 3 Jambalaya and a craw-fish pie and fillet gumbo, 'Cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher amio. 1970 New Yorker 10 Jan. 62/1 (Advt.), The filé thickener is made of pounded sassafrass. |