Damascus, SANA – Okra is considered one of the traditional dishes in Deir Ezzor province, eastern Syria, in addition to being an integral part of the memory and food and agricultural heritage of the people there.
For travelers and tourists, it is a distinctive Euphrates symbol, like the suspension bridge, as an old woman named Saniya Al-Sayed from the region said that tourists who return to visit the province and its heritage ask to eat this type of food, as its taste is fixed in their imagination, just like the Euphrates River and the rest of the antiquities in the province.
She confirms that the love of okra has been passed down through generations in Deir Ezzor. There is hardly a home without it, where it is grown, cooked, and served on their tables constantly. It is distinguished by its variety of cooking methods, the most famous of which is with lamb, where it is placed on oven-baked bread with Arabic ghee.
The old woman adds: Okra is not just a food, but rather a story of the season and moments that bring the family together around a delicious dish, and the people of the region do not hesitate to prepare it and stock it up as a winter supply, as the fruits are dried or preserved using traditional storage methods to ensure that they retain their nutritional value and delicious taste.
Growing this type of vegetable is not devoid of any land in Deir Ezzor, even if it is a small area. Okra cultivation begins in April and is carefully harvested between May and June to preserve its quality and freshness.
Okra is not just a food dish; it is a symbol of the agricultural and social heritage in Deir Ezzor, as it combines agricultural quality with distinctive taste and is a social tradition that the people preserve throughout the generations.
Fedaa/ Abdul
