This is "country" (as in country gumbo, country tacos)

Went out for lunch this past week with the boss. We went to the Shuck 'N Dive on Federal Highway, and no they don't have their own website, either. So, you get this generic link.

If I knew they weren't going to have a website, I would've taken pictures of something besides my bowl of 'country gumbo,' but it's a nice Cajun-style joint with the bar in the middle of the room. This is south Florida, so they had outdoor seating, too, but it was a warm day and Eddie was in a suit so we sat inside at the bar (all the tables were taken).

The walls are covered to the last square inch with trappings from Louisiana: a lot of NFL Saints and LSU momentos. There's paintings that harken to Mardi Gras. You're getting the picture.

Like I said, I ordered a country gumbo. The description on the menu seemed a little off. It consisted of pulled pork, Andouille sausage and okra, and rice in a Cajun spiced rue.

Well, gumbo is normally a seafood soup with okra, shrimp, crab and oysters. It's common for gumbo to include crawdads (crayfish). Then there's chicken gumbo (okra and chicken).

What I got barely had any soup in it. It was a stew and it had a lot of rice. The Andouille was sliced thin. The 'soup' was a reddish, peppery, spicy liquid. It was tasty. It could have used more okra, which was there more for decoration than nourishment.

COUNTRY GUMBO AT THE SHUCK 'N DIVE

All in all, it was alright and reasonably priced. Reasonably priced is something you don't come across often in Fort Lauderdale, so I don't knock it.

The "county" label on the gumbo, I'm sure, had to do with including sausage in the mix. Same thing happens in Texas with tacos. If the cook uses chopped Polish or German sausage with the eggs and tucks this into a taco, you are getting a "country taco."

I threw together a country taco plate this morning. I chopped poblano and serrano peppers with onion and lightly grilled. The pepper doesn't usually go into a country taco at the restaurant, but then again, I wasn't getting a hot sauce; so this was my substitute.

Chop a link of Kiolbassa beef sausage, stir in a couple of eggs, and you've got enough fixings to fill four tacos. Now all I need is a cup of coffee!

Buen provecho!