“Lezette dished out bowls of okra stew over steaming heaps of rice. José thought that his appeared sparse in comparison to the others.” — Treacherous Shoal

This dish is a wonderful blend of different cultures. The okra came from Africa and was grown by the slaves for their own use. The tomatoes are native to the New World. Pigs and cows were brought to America by the Europeans, and so the addition of meat is their gift to this dish. The cayenne pepper used to season it originated in the New World as well, but, thanks to the Spanish and Portuguese, quickly made its way to distant lands, including Africa.

I have taken this recipe from Sarah Rutledge’s 1851 The Carolina Housewife. Although called a stew, it is more of a soup, even after I reduced the water content substantially. I also reduced the cooking time by 5 hours. The original recipe calls for a shin of beef, keeping this dish suitable for a kosher meal, should the cook choose to use beef.  Rutledge said that “a ham bone is thought an improvement by some.” I am one of those, and I did her one better by adding chopped ham. This dish has more punch than the usual 18th century fare, and I found it a spectacular and satisfying treat.

• 1 cup okra

• 2 cups chopped tomato

• 1 cup diced ham

• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 5 cups of water

1.  Cut up the okra into ¼ inch slices, removing the stems and tips.

2. Put the water into a large saucepan, then add the okra, tomato, and ham. Season with cayenne pepper and stir well.

3. Bring to a boil, then let it simmer, uncovered, for two hours.

4. Serve on rice.

Notes: I used canned tomatoes. They have more flavor than the rubbery spheres sold in the supermarket. I also used fresh okra, since I have recently found the frozen to be somewhat woody. Fresh okra doesn’t keep well, so you may find you need to use the frozen.