I don’t think that I had ever eaten okra until I met Bobby; but now it is a veggie that I look forward to eating each year. Besides just having okra in Bobby’s traditional Cajun dishes, I add it to soups, stir frying, and even in spaghetti. This year, I tried the red okra, which I had never seen before. It is supposed to taste the same, and the flowers are the same; but the okra is red instead of green. Mine is just now finally starting to develop some okra on the plant, and in a few more days I can probably start harvesting a few of them to eat. (Photo taken with my iPhone on portrait setting)
Can't grow that here, either, @Yvonne Smith. We used to grow and eat it when I lived in the South, but really only enjoyed it fried. I used to tell my co-workers about the okra fairy who flitted around the okra patches at night blowing her nose into every pod.
I like it fried and sometimes in soups. I miss not growing it last 3 years. Too much going on.its the only summer crop we can grow down here.
Since both my folks were from Texas, I grew up with okra fried and boiled. Fried in olive oil is my favorite. I haven't tried growing it here, but some do with success. Since okra requires warm nights it is a hit and miss here. This summer would have been ideal. The red okra sounds exciting. Anxious to hear how it tastes. All I remember is green okra. Yes, Cajun dishes are never the same without okra. I remember relatives arguing about jambalaya not being cajun without okra. I see now there is a new hybrid okra named jambalaya. I wonder if you have ever tried it @Yvonne Smith and what the difference would be?
That is a question for @Bobby Cole , Faye. He is the one from the South, and knows about making Cajun food. I am just an Idaho transplant, and had never ever tried growing okra until recently.
Truthfully, I like okra just about any way it’s prepared or dishes with okra added to it. On the other hand, Like chili, Jambalaya is one dish that becomes very personal to the preparer in that when it comes to okra, some use it and some do not. I do but I blanch the okra first so it doesn’t turn into uh…something very gooey and runny. Interestingly enough, Gumbo is the one major Cajun / Creole dish that okra has to be included in. After all, the translation for the Swahili word Gumbo is….okra.
Okra is the main thing in our garden, along with big garlic. I make a killer gumbo (We lived in Louisiana 22 years.).
What part James? Orleans and Jefferson Parish for the most part but I spent some time in St. Mary Parish when I worked on off shore rigs.
Yes, I think you wrote that before! I went to the LSU annex in New Orleans for a spell and am still a Tiger fan even though we live in Alabama. That said, neither New Orleans nor Baton Rouge really brings the good Cajun flavors in food like around Lafayette nor the Creole like around Plaquemine. Still, okra is one of the mainstays of both cuisines and I am indeed anxious to try out the reds that Yvonne has growing. You said you have some garlic going too. I think we planted some sections a couple of years ago but I can’t remember getting any real production out of them. Guess I didn’t hold my mouth right when they were planted.
Here in north Florida I plant the very large garlic in the fall. It does well over the winter and early summer.
I've never tried to grow it, and only tasted it once, and thought it was disgusting. I had ordered a breaded fish, and it came with breaded okra. The fish was okay but when I took a bit of the okra, thinking it was going to be fish, I nearly gagged.
As I said, okra doesn't grow here, but hardneck garlic does fine and even overwinters most of the time. Softneck garlics usually winter kill here, so perhaps you were trying to grow the wrong garlic, @Bobby Cole. Usually you plant it in the fall and harvest about a year later, separate the cloves an replant some of the cloves to provide next years harvest and use the remainder.