It’s a Question of Texture
The flavor wasn't the problem.
Each week my CSA posts a few recipes on their website with suggestions for using the current crops. One of this week’s recipes was intended to give us a way to use the amaranth greens that are in season. It was a recipe for Callaloo soup, a soup that derives from the Caribbean, with ingredient roots in Africa. It’s a relatively simple soup to make – you toss a whole bunch of chopped vegetables in a pot, add broth, coconut milk, cloves, garlic and thyme, and simmer until the vegetables are soft. Finally, you puree the batch in a blender or, in my case, with an immersion blender – the wonder tool of the kitchen – and add salt, pepper, and hot sauce.
The soup isn’t as pretty once it’s been cooked up and blended – it’s kind of a duller color than pea soup. The cloves and hot sauce added spice and an unusual flavor to the bowl. But there was one small problem. I didn’t mention all of the vegetables, but the one small problem was the okra. I’ve only cooked with okra once before in my life, but it was a rather, er, disgusting experience. I really can’t find a better term to describe a pot full of green vegetables that appear to be cooking in thick, clear mucous. That particular instance I was experimenting with the vegetable and had just decided to boil them up as a side dish. Never again.
But with this Callaloo soup, oh, I don’t know what I was thinking. I used frozen okra because fresh wasn’t available at Whole Foods or the farm. I don’t really know if fresh would have made a difference. And the okra was blended in with the other vegetables, so it didn’t really stand out from the rest. But after Joe had his first taste, he asked me how much oil was in the soup. Oil? There wasn’t a drop of oil or fat of any kind in the soup. It was that disgusting okra again. Joe and I liked the interesting flavor of the soup, although the girls weren’t quite crazy about it. But once Joe didn’t ask for seconds, I knew something was wrong. It was the texture. That stinking okra spoiled my soup. I would like to know who really likes okra? Who likes mucous-y oily soup anyway? And is there a way to avoid the mucous? Did I do something wrong? I welcome any and all suggestions for conquering this slimy veg.
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I like okra and Andouille sausage when I cook gumbo. Okra is a great thickener.
I love andouille, too. But I think that oily type texture the okra gives as it thickens will be tough sell in this house.