Illustration by Katie McBride
HISTORY
Okra is an elemental ingredient in the cooking that arose from the African diaspora. Most likely first cultivated in West Africa in the 12th century, it arrived in the Americas in the 17th century, becoming a staple of the colonists' early cuisine; Thomas Jefferson noted okra growing in Virginia in the 1780s, and began planting the crop yearly at Monticello. The vegetable's association with the South remains strong and resonant, but okra is also beloved by cooks in the Middle East, the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia.
WHAT TO BUY
Look for pods that are firm, brightly colored and free of blemishes. If you happen to find okra with its leaves attached, buy it; the greens are tasty in their own right, and can be sauteed in oil and garlic, just as you would prepare beet or turnip greens. Evrim Dogu, who owns Turkish-inspired bakery Sub Rosa in Church Hill, advises shoppers to look for okra that is “stem to tip, about the length from the tip of your thumb to your thumb’s knuckle.”
HOW TO PREPARE
Few foods are more deeply divisive than okra, which, when cooked, secretes a substance called mucilage. Not exactly a word that primes the palate, but advocates insist that this slime is not at all unappealing when the vegetable is treated to the methods it responds to best: frying or pickling. And in gumbo, the quintessential creole dish, or a stew of tomatoes, that mucilage becomes a wonderful thickener, adding richness and texture. Persnickety critics are quick to note that okra is surprisingly frail for such a hearty-seeming vegetable: It literally can't stand the heat. The more you cut and cook it, the gooier it becomes. For that reason, many cooks seek to minimize the ooze — rinsing the pods only just before preparation, subjecting them to minimal heat, and even eating them raw (sliced thin, for instance, in a salad, where they bring great crunch). The dish below uses gentle heat to produce a stew of marvelous depth and texture.
Kuzu Etli Bamya, or Lamb With Okra
Serves 4
By Evrim Dogu of Sub Rosa Bakery
1 pound lamb shoulder/neck meat, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 pound fresh okra, woody tops trimmed, with stem end intact
4 medium Yukon gold potatoes, diced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 medium tomatoes
1 ½ tablespoons tomato paste
1 ½ cup olive oil
1-2 cups water or stock
2 ounces butter
1 lemon
2 ounces parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons Aleppo pepper
salt and pepper, to taste
Over medium heat, sauté the onion in olive oil until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste, fresh tomatoes, Aleppo pepper, a small pinch of black pepper, the lamb, and 1 cup water or stock, and salt to taste. Cook about two hours, until cubes are tender. Add the potatoes and okra, then squeeze in the juice of ½ lemon. Add butter, and salt to taste. Simmer on medium-low heat, covered, for 30 to 45 minutes or until the okra is tender. Slice the remaining ½ lemon into wedges and use as a garnish along with chopped parsley.
