[Hibiscus esculentus]
Originally from North Africa, the seeds of this mallow were carried to the U.S. with the slave trade. Okra is now grown world wide and is particularly important in the U.S. South, Africa, the Middle East and India.
In African, Middle Eastern and Southern US cooking okra is valued for it's mucilaginousness (sliminess) which adds body to broths and sauces, but in much of the world, India, for example, cooking methods are designed specifically to suppress this characteristic.
Okra Leaves are used in African cooking, but what is sold as
"Okra Leaves" in Southern California is a different
mallow, Molokhia.
For those who fondly remember eating the seed wheels of
Common Mallow as children, the taste can be recaptured
in more convenient form by eating Okra pods raw.
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Select Okra for crisp, bright green medium size pods, as close to the same size as possible. Okra can be kept wrapped in the refrigerator for up to a week, but first leave it out on the counter long enough so there is no free water on it |
mw_kenafz 081003
©Andrew Grygus
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