[CH] OKRA IN SALAD? (was Tolerance)
Calvin Donaghey (gdonaghey@bitstreet.com)
Fri, 25 Feb 2000 20:39:05 -0600
It's funny how different areas develop different tastes.
I try to appreciate okra in all its various forms, especially in corn,
rice & potato chip gumbo with vine-ripened chiles. It is pretty much a
southern dish, though. However (since I'm comparing northern and
southern cookin'), in grad school, I had an office - mate from
Oshkosh-B'Gosh-Wisconsin. One evening the grad students all went out to
a local eatery for a buffet. There in the serving tray was a large pot
of black eyed peas w/ okra & jalapenos. The guy from Wisconsin nudged
me and asked
"Are those what I think they are?"
"Look like peas 'N peppers, to me." says I.
"Well, where I come from, that's just HOG FEED, and I'm not eating
that." Says He.
"Well, you eat Hogs, don't ya', so you get 'em one way or the other?"
Says I.
He declined to try it "because there were peppers in it".
Then he got a REAL eye opener when he spent 3 months in Southern Mexico
working on his thesis project. He informed the whole geology department
that Peas 'N Peppers was a delicacy fit for the Queen Mother Herself.
(No offense intended to you Wisconsin CHs-- it's just a story, not an
indictment.)
Calvin