Recently I was wondering about this plant with the pretty purple berries for a while. I see some birds eating the berries, but somehow I just knew they were way too pretty to be good for me.
Image in hand, I asked Ms. Google what the heck it was and she said: "Okay. According to Wikipedia, (can't you just hear her mechanized AI voice right now?) Phytolacca Americana, the American Pokeweed . . . ".
Pokeweed! I know that! I heard that song back in the day and wondered who ate it and why.
It ends up this 'Poke Salad' (one of many spellings and pronunciations), is native to the eastern United States and has been enjoyed in the American South for years. It also happens to be a bit on the poisonous side.
No one eats its leaves or berries raw. According a video posted on the Southern Foodways Alliance site, someone died within days of just eating 8 of the berries. Poke Sallet (yup, another version of the name) is boiled several times with the water thrown away after each boiling. It is also recommended that you only choose young plants before they seed, because it hasn't accumulated as much poison as when it has flowered.
Some say the shoots taste like asparagus and it is cooked with green and white onions to make a savory and nutritious side dish. I've seen it all over my area in Maryland and also growing wild in parks and farms. However, I think I'll wait until next spring before I try my hand at it. Yeah. Maybe I'll combine it with a little puffer fish as an appetizer.
Obviously, this is real soul food and I've got to try it. Besides, I really did dig this song when I was twelve. Something about the line "The gators got ya grannie (Chomp, chomp, chomp)" that just resonated with my sick prepubescent brain. Oh, and he (Tony Joe White) grunts a lot.
Primal. :)
https://youtu.be/fRF24LY5pvw
Another article: https://nyti.ms/2yK2OXH
2 comments:
MBA certificate courses online
This is a great informative blog thanks for share
afdah
Post a Comment