From Jeff Cox

Okra (Hibiscus esculentus) is a relative of the hollyhock and the ornamental mallows. It is native to Ethiopia, although it found an enthusiastic welcome in the cuisines of West Africa. The pretty flowers, resembling small hibiscus or hollyhock blossoms, are followed by seed pods with a very mucilaginous sap. Besides the young pods, in Africa the seeds are eaten as a sweetmeat and roasted and ground as a coffee substitute. It came to North America with African slaves, and so gained its toehold in the American south. Today one can hardly imagine southern regional cooking—especially in the Creole and Cajun cooking of Louisiana—without gumbos and stews thickened with the clear liquid okra exudes.

Both the words okra and gumbo are also of West African origin. “Okra” derives from the word Accra, the capital city of Ghana, and “gumbo” comes from ngombo, and Angolan word for a similar dish.

The Organic Factor
The organic cook should make an effort to find organically grown okra. This member of the mallow family is related to cotton and is afflicted by many of the same pests. When grown in commercial agriculture, the two crops are often treated with the same pesticides, especially in the cotton-growing areas of the south. California growers are moving toward using neem extract—an effective insect-repelling substance derived from a tree native to the Indian subcontinent.

Nutrition
Okra is a good source of vitamin C. Just one-half cup of cooked okra contains 2 grams of soluble fiber in the form of gum and pectins. It also contains good stores of insoluble fiber that helps protect against colorectal cancer. That half cup contains about 10 percent of the recommended daily doses of vitamins B6 and folic acid.

Types
Okra pods come in one of three shades. The most common is a medium green, but there’s also a pale, lime green type with much the same flavor. The best type of all for flavor and texture, in my opinion, is a reddish type that keeps its color when cooked.

Seasonality
The plant likes hot, humid weather and produces its top yields during high to late summer.

What To Look For
Always select pods that are between 2 and 3 inches long. Although some pods stay tender at longer lengths, many do not, and it’s sometimes hard to know which variety you’re dealing with unless the grower is on hand to tell you. By sticking with small pods, you’re guaranteed of getting them young and tender. They should have no bruises or discolorations and have a pleasant, velvety feeling.

Preparation
Trim off the tough stem ends and rinse the pods.

Uses
The flavor of okra recalls various herbaceous plant flavors—a little asparagus, a hint of artichoke, and a touch of sweet pepper. Its salient feature is the sticky liquid its pods exude when cut, and it’s this substance that makes it so useful in enriching and adding body to rice-based stews.

I love the flavor of okra, but simply boiled, its sliminess is a little off-putting to my taste. I prefer to pan-fry it, which sizzles the mucilage, makes it crunchy, and intensifies its flavor. The method for this can be as simple as frying sliced rounds of the pods in olive oil over medium heat, but it becomes extra special when treated in the North African style and given a little help from cumin, tomato, and lemon (recipe below).

Okra makes a good partner with other high- to late-summer crops like garlic, onions, tomatoes, and sweet peppers; with spices like cumin and coriander; and with flavorings like lemon and parsley. In fact, this is pretty much a listing of the ingredients that would go into a good gumbo, along with rice, andouille sausage, and a few pieces of chicken.
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Organic Okra, North African Style Recipe

A quick, flavorful side dish.

½ teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon organic olive oil
7 – 9 organic okra pods, sliced into ½-inch rounds, stem ends discarded
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the cumin seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat for 30 seconds or so, until they become fragrant. Then transfer them to a mortar and, when they’re cool, grind them up with a pestle.

2. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil, and when hot add the okra. It only takes a few minutes for the okra to tighten up and acquire a little crunchy browning. Once this happens, add the tomato paste and lemon juice, the ground cumin, and salt and pepper to taste. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue cooking for another minute or so, stirring occasionally, until the okra is fully tender and coated with the tomato mixture.

Serves 2 to 3.
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If You Like To Garden
Aside from producing tasty pods, okra plants produce beautiful flowers that are pretty enough to star in the ornamental garden and certainly add color and pizzazz to the vegetable garden. Okra likes lots of heat and sunlight. Think Louisiana. But it can be grown farther north. It was grown in Philadelphia in the 18th century. It responds to plenty of nutrients in a rich organic soil and plenty of moisture. Keep picking those pods while young and tender, because if a plant is allowed to mature its pods (and the seeds inside), it considers its work finished for the season and you get no further flowers or pods.
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See also Rosalind’s Classic Gumbo
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Jeff Cox is author of The Organic Cook’s Bible and The Organic Food Shopper’s Guide , and numerous other cooking, gardening, and wine books, and lives in Sonoma County, California.
Image Credit: © Infocus | Dreamstime.com
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