Every year we test and launch new crops that are well suited to our exceptional farmlands in Picardy and Portugal and to global warming. Okra is one of the crops that successfully acclimatized to our Jardim da Lagoa farm by Teresa Rodriguez (see picture above) and her team.
A wonderful tropical plant
This tropical plant of the mallow family, similar to hibiscus, originated either in Africa or India – historians do not agree on this. For botanists it’s a fruit, but one that is used as a vegetable in many types of cuisine.
The okra flower recalls hibiscus
Not well known in Europe
Okra arrived in Europe in the 12th century with the Moors, then it crossed the Atlantic during the times of the slave trade. On the ships it prevented scurvy. In fact it is a source of vitamins C and K and magnesium and potassium.
Easy to digest and low in calories, it has everything going for it. Today we find it in many Mediterranean basin dishes — from Greece to Lebanon – as well as in the French West Indies, Louisiana, Africa, India and Japan.
The first harvest
Raw or cooked
Okra tastes a little bit like eggplant. Try it raw in a salad or dipped into a sauce, or else in slices, breaded and fried, or stewed. Once cooked it becomes slightly gelatinous, which proves to be useful for thickening soups and stews. We find it in Caribbean calalou. Served at Easter, this soup is made with small crabs, spinach and okra and is flavored with garlic, lemon and hot peppers, of course. Yum!
Gumbo is grown throughout the tropics and now also in Portugal, at our Jardim da Lagoa farm!
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