The Nashville globe. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1906-193?, 1907-11-01
CHICKEN euMBo.
An UnfaoiIing Sign Of the Crossing Of
Mason and Dixon,s Line.

-" N"""""S OiSh " IuS STO6Siu8 OF
Mason and Dixon's Line.
Even if a man never took his eyes
off his soup plate he ought to know of
his location as oon as he goes south
of Mason and Dixon's line. Any one
with a trace of sense could tell it by
the Okra.
Okra is as common in the South as
it is rare in the North. 1t is said to
be synonymous with gumbo, though
some authorities declare that gumbo
involves the presence of other items
than merely okra. AS the latter ap-
pears in American seed catalogues un-
der at least fifty different names, there
is room for confusion.
1t is said that okra came originally
from Africa, and indeed it has been
proved that the Egyptians used it long
ago. Tons of it are grown in Turkey
and north Africa, and it is a staple ar
ticle of food in the West Indies and
Central America.
In this country it's principal use is
in making the various gumbo soups.
The pods not only give an agreeable
flavor to the concoction, but a peculiar
mucilaginous consistency, which is
highly priced by those who like it.
Sometimes the young seeds are
cooked as a vegetable, as green peas
are. Sometimes they are boiled and
served with French dressing as salad,
According to directions issued by the
Department of Agriculture, no copper,
brass or iron cooking vessel should be
used in preparing okra. The metal
will discolor the pods and even render
them poisonous. Use only agate, por-
celain or earthen ware.
The New Orleans Picayune's cook
book gives the following recipe for
chicken gumbo:
One chicken.
One onion.
One-half pod of red pepper without
the seeds.
Two pints of okra, or about fifty
pods.
Two large slices of ham.
One bay leaf.
One sprig of thyme or parsley.
One tablespoonful each of lard and
butter.
Salt and cayenne to taste.
Clean and cut up the chicken. Cut
the ham into small squares or dice and
chop the onion, parsley and thyme.
Skin the tomatoes and chop fine, saw
ing the juice. Wash and stem the
okras and slice into thin layers of one-
half inch each.
Put the lard and butter into the soup
kettle and when hot add the chicken
and the ham. Cover closely and let it
simmer for about ten minutes. Then
add the chopped onions, parsley, thyme
and tomatoes, stirring frequently to
prevent scorching in the kettle.
Then add the okras, and when we'll
Drowned add the juice of the tomatoes,
which imparts a superior flavor.
The okra is very delicate and is
liable to scorch if not stirred frequent
ly. For this reason many Creole cooks
fry the okras separately in a frying
pan, seasoning with the pepper, cay
enne and salt, and then add them to
the chicken. Equally good results
may be obtained with less trouble by
simply adding the okra to the frying
chicken and watching constantly to
prevent %scorching. The least taste oil
a scorch spoils the flavor.
When well fried and Drowned, ado
about three quarts of boiling water
and set on the back of the stove tt
r simmer for about an hour longer
Serve hot with nicely boiled rice
Round steak may be substituted FOL
chicken, but it must be borne in min(
that the chicken gumbo is the bes
+ 1avored.-New York Sun.