Baby Corn Miniature or “baby” corn consists
of immature, unpollinated ears from full-sized
corn varieties, picked two to four days after
the silks emerge from the ear, when the cob is
still edible, crisp, and sweet. (The rest of the
plant becomes animal feed.) The ear may be
2–4 in/5–10 cm long and contains 2–3%
sugar. Miniature corn production was
developed in Taiwan and advanced in
Thailand; Central America has recently
become a major source.
Okra Okra comes from the annual plant
Hibiscus (Abelmoschus) esculentus, a member
of the hibiscus family, and a relative of
roselle (p. 327) and cotton. It originated in
either southwest Asia or eastern Africa, and
came to the southern United States with the
slave trade. The portion that we eat is the
immature seedpod or capsule, with its
distinctive five-cornered shape, starlike in
cross section, and its notoriously slimy