Okra

The latest book by a prominent Turkish historian and author revealing details about the daily life routine of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, says that he used to wake up late and that his favorite food was okra.

Spring is all about greens. Foraging for edible wild greens seems like a new trend but in rural Anatolia it has been a strong tradition for ages, more precisely since the hunter-gatherers of the Paleolithic Karain Cave just north of the Mediterranean city of Antalya. This means about 200,000 years of foraging heritage, though Anatolian foliage must have changed drastically since then.

Okra is the hidden gem of Anatolian cuisine. Consumed both fresh and dried, it has deep roots in Ottoman culinary culture, marking the trade route from Africa to Asia Minor. It is believed to have originated from Ethiopia and Eastern Sudan and was cultivated along the Nile by the 12th century. Okra is called bamya in Turkish, coming from the Arabic word for the plant.