On Food and Cooking

mucilage. Plant mucilage is a complex
mixture of long, entangled carbohydrate
molecules and proteins that helps plants and
their seeds retain water. (Cactus and purslane
are similarly slimy; the seeds of basil,
fenugreek, and flax exude water-trapping
mucilage when soaked, and are therefore used
as thickeners or to add texture to drinks.) Okra
mucilage can be exploited as a thickener in
soups and stews (as it is in Louisiana gumbo,
either to replace or augment powdered
sassafras leaf), or its qualities can be
minimized by using dry cooking methods
(frying, baking). In Africa, slices of the pod
are sun-dried. Okra has a mild flavor (though
a relative, A. moschatus, produces aromatic
seeds from which perfumers extract the
musky ingredient ambrette).
Okra fruits can be hairy and sometimes
even spiny, and their inner layers bear bundles
of fibers that thicken and toughen as they
mature. Small young fruits three to five days