[Sca-cooks] period okra

[Stefan li Rous]

Adamantius commented a few days ago (I'm a bit behind on this list..)
> if gelatinous foods were going to be a
> problem, I shouldn't have married a woman of Chinese ancestry
>
> Some culture or other, maybe the Lebanese, use dried okra, which, I
> recall hearing, is not slimy either, when prepared properly...
This made me wonder if okra was from the New or Old World, since I 
hadn't remembered it coming up in any discussions or recipes here about 
period food. I was going to ask and then thought to look 'okra' up in 
Root's "Food".

He says that like tomatoes and potatoes which didn't become accepted in 
the US until re-intoduced from Europe, Okra did not become accepted in 
Europe until after it was re-introduced from the New World, It was 
probably introduced to the New World by black slaves from Africa. He 
mentions okra being used in Europe only in the extreme southeast "which 
is in the Middle East gastronomic belt, and Spain, where the Moors 
introduced it."

So, does anyone know of any period recipes that use okra?

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****