Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1908-01-18
CHICKEN GUMRo.
An CnfaiIing Sign of the Crossing Of
Mason and Dixon's Line.

an GhailnB sign OF the crossing Oh
Mason and DixOn's Line.
Even If a man never took his eyes
of his soup plate he ought to know
of HIS location as soon as he goes
south of Mason and Dixon's line. Any
one with a trace of sense could tell
1t by the okra.
Okra Is as common in the South
as It is rare in the North. It is said
to be synonymous with gumbo,
though some authorities declare that
gumbo involves the presence Of other
items than merely okra. AS the lat
ter appears in American seed cata.
logues under at least fifty different
names, there is room for confusion.
1t is said that okra came origi-'
nally from Africa, and indeed it has
been proved that the Egyptians used
1t long ago. Tons of it are grown in
Turkey and North Africa, and 1t is q
staple article of food in the West In
dies and Central America.
In this country its principal use
is III making the various gumbO
soups. The pods not only give an
agreeable flavor to the concoction.
but peculiar musilaginous consis-
tenc9, 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, porcelain 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 with
out 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
tae ham into small squares or dice
and chop the onion, parsley and
thyme. Skin the tomatoes and chop
fine, saving 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 1t simmer for about ten min.
utes. Then add the chopped onions
parsley, thyme and tomatoes, stir.
ring frequently to prevent scorchinG
In the kettle.
Then add the okras, and wher
we'll Drowned add the juice of the to-
matoess which imparts a superior
flavor.
The okra is very delicate ana II
liable to scorch II not stirred fire.
quently. For this reason many
Creole cooks fry the okras separately
in frying pan, seasoning with the
pepper, cayenne and salt, and ther
add them to the chicken. Equal!
good results may be obtained will
less trouble by simply adding tn,
ohra to the frying chicken and watch
ing constantly to prevent scorching
The least taste of a scorch spoils tn,
flavor.
| When well fried and Drowned, ado
about three quarts of boiling wate
and set on the back of the stov,
to simmer for about an hour longer
Serve hot with nicely boiled rice
Round steak may be substituted 70
chicken, but it must be borne II
lmind that the chicken gumbo is tn
best fiavored.-New York Sun