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Ochra, or Gumbo

A stew of beef, okra, tomatoes, and ham simmered in water with butter, cayenne, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Okra and tomato work together. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 327 recipes. Both carry damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Ochra, or Gumbo

Ingredients

Directions

Start the broth

  1. Combine beef, okra, and cold water in a pot, just enough to cover them.

  2. Let them stew for 1 hour.

Simmer

  1. Add sliced tomatoes and 2 quarts of boiling water.

  2. Add more water if needed to cover the meat and vegetables.

  3. Boil for 45 minutes, skimming often with a spoon.

Finish and serve

  1. Stir in butter, cayenne pepper, and salt to taste.

  2. Strain the soup.

  3. Serve with squares of light, crisp toast floating on top.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Okra + tomatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together327 recipes

    Shared aroma: damascenone (apple, rose).

  2. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Tomato + beeftop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,448 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Okra + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together727 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Okra
Releases natural thickeners that give the gumbo its body and silky texture.
Tomatoes
Add acidity and fresh, bright flavor that balances the rich broth.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a rounded mouthfeel in the finished soup.
Beef
Contributes savory, meaty flavor and body to the stewed broth.
Ham or pickled pork
Adds salty, savory depth to the broth.

The step that matters

Skimming during the 45-minute boil. Foam and fat rise to the surface as the meat simmers. Removing them often keeps the broth clearer and less greasy, and stops bitter impurities from mixing back in.

Swap the okra

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, butter, beef, ham, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Onionfits better
  4. Okrathe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, butter, beef, ham, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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