Embrace the slime in Southern okra relish

“Mucilaginous.” I remember the first time I heard that word. It was in reference to okra, the slimy green pod vegetable I grew up eating virtually every meal in the South. Before then, I had never thought about the slime of the vegetable. We ate it deep-fried and served with a spiced ranch-like dressing called comeback sauce. We ate it sautéed in bacon fat and served up alongside rice. It had a unique texture, sure, but it was one I loved. Only after I heard that word, and the blurts of disgust it elicited from people around me, did I know it wasn’t for everyone.

But my favorite okra dish — okra and tomato relish — leaned into that goopy quality instead of trying to hide it under a cornmeal coating or slicked with bacon grease. A cousin of the more widely known chow-chow relish, which was essentially green tomatoes and peppers cooked down then sweetened with sugar and soured with vinegar, the okra and tomato version is all chopped okra and onions, pocked with large chunks of canned whole tomatoes. It was a rustic cold sauce that we’d spoon over piping-hot cream peas or steaming wedges of crunchy cornbread and use as a de facto dip for fried catfish fillets. Thanks to the stewed okra’s gooeyness, it had the texture of slippery ketchup, and we used it as such.

My version, a slightly refined take on the one I ate growing up, has all the same components but with a finer chop and less sugar to make it feel more like a condiment you could eat as a side dish. When you see okra in the markets this time of year, buy them to make this relish — double or triple the recipe if you need to — because it keeps a long time in the fridge and you’ll be looking for excuses to eat it on anything. It might not win any beauty contests, but it will elicit bursts of pleasure from those you serve it to, or at least those with good taste to embrace the goo.