Old Creole Winter Okra Soup - a weekend recipe

In Black Magic Woman,  my French Quarter Mystery No. 4, Wyatt Thomas and Mama Mulate's latest squeeze, Jason Fasempaur, travel back to old New Orleans, circa 1845, to implore voodoo high priestess Madam Marie Laveau to help them lift a curse that is plaguing Wyatt. While there, they visit a haunted plantation on River Road and a townhouse in New Orleans. Wyatt also fights a duel with a French sword master. When Jason sees the rustic kitchen of the New Orleans townhouse, he enjoys a bowl of cook Sarah's delectable soup that he declares ‘a taste of heaven.’ Here is Sarah’s recipe. Try it, and I think you’ll agree with Jason.

Old Creole Winter Okra Soup

Ingredients

      ·         3 pints Okra

·         6 tomatoes, fresh

·         2 onions

·         2 T butter

·         2 dozen oysters

·         3 T rice

·         1 red pepper pod, deseeded

Directions

Wash and stem the okra, and then slice it very fine. Chop the tomatoes finely and preserve the juice. In a large pot, chop the onions finely, and then fry them in the butter. Wash the rice well. Slow stew the onions, tomato juice, and pepper in about three quarts of water and one pint of oyster juice for three hours, stirring frequently. Don’t add the okra and rice until ten minutes before serving, then let it boil. Drop in the oysters, boil up once, and serve.

Note: Even though south Louisiana usually has a long growing season, the Creoles of New Orleans didn’t have fresh okra and tomatoes during the winter. They resolved this problem by canning fruits and vegetables during the plentiful months. To follow the original recipe, use one can (jar) of okra and one can or jar of tomatoes instead of fresh okra and tomatoes. Either way, it's good.

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Born near Black Bayou in the little Louisiana town of Vivian, Eric Wilder grew up listening to his grandmother’s tales of politics, corruption, and ghosts that haunt the night. He now lives in Oklahoma, where he continues to pen mysteries and short stories with a southern accent. He authored the French Quarter Mystery Series set in New Orleans, the Paranormal Cowboy Series, and the Oyster Bay Mystery Series. Please check it out on his Amazon author page. You might also like checking out his Facebook page.