There's been a lot of hate going around about okra, one of the South's tried and true foods, lately, and we need to talk about it.
In a recent article in The Guardian where chefs named their most-hated ingredients, Jason Atherton, a chef-proprietor at the Social Company restaurants in London, gave a pretty savage description of the vegetable, saying it "is the most foul thing ever grown." Seems unlikely, but okay.
Atherton went on to say that it's only "near a edible" when it's deep fried, which is a description you could apply to pretty much everything and, therefore, isn't a real compliment. I realize a British chef's opinion of a Southern food should not be taken too seriously, but he's not the only one rippin' on it. When we asked our Facebook followers to tell us what Southern foods they thought were overrated, okra came up early and often. When poorly prepared, okra can be pretty unappealing. What about all the good times Southerners and okra have had together though? Do they mean nothing? Are we really so ungrateful we would turn our backs on it just because we tried it boiled that one time, and it was like eating a slimy, green finger?
After all, is there a gumbo or stew that can't be made better with the addition of okra? Is there a bloody Mary that doesn't benefit from some pickled okra? And yes, like most things, okra can be fried. And you know what? It's pretty stinkin' delicious. So, let's back off okra a little and start giving it its due. Or, at the very least, let's not allow British chefs, who probably eat jellied eels and black pudding, to bully one of our own. After more than a century of service, we owe okra that much.
In a recent article in The Guardian where chefs named their most-hated ingredients, Jason Atherton, a chef-proprietor at the Social Company restaurants in London, gave a pretty savage description of the vegetable, saying it "is the most foul thing ever grown." Seems unlikely, but okay.
Atherton went on to say that it's only "near a edible" when it's deep fried, which is a description you could apply to pretty much everything and, therefore, isn't a real compliment. I realize a British chef's opinion of a Southern food should not be taken too seriously, but he's not the only one rippin' on it. When we asked our Facebook followers to tell us what Southern foods they thought were overrated, okra came up early and often. When poorly prepared, okra can be pretty unappealing. What about all the good times Southerners and okra have had together though? Do they mean nothing? Are we really so ungrateful we would turn our backs on it just because we tried it boiled that one time, and it was like eating a slimy, green finger?
After all, is there a gumbo or stew that can't be made better with the addition of okra? Is there a bloody Mary that doesn't benefit from some pickled okra? And yes, like most things, okra can be fried. And you know what? It's pretty stinkin' delicious. So, let's back off okra a little and start giving it its due. Or, at the very least, let's not allow British chefs, who probably eat jellied eels and black pudding, to bully one of our own. After more than a century of service, we owe okra that much.
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