Personally, I like this community because it is not limited to politics.
A certain spice of life is included, such as Frugal Fridays and the excellent series on marine life. I have another offering in this vein. Please let me know whether or not to continue. Without further fanfare, I introduce you to Poke, the wonder vegetable.
One word of caution not included in the diary: it is possible to find poke in grocery stores (I bought a can of Allen's at Ralph's in Pasadena, California). My experience was that it was of poor quality, with lots of rind from over mature specimens. Pick your own and do not depend on that from the store. Interestingly, the Allen Canning Company in Siloam Springs, Arkansas will buy poke by the pickup truck load for just this reason. My experience was not that positive, but I might have gotten a bad batch. Here we go.
Poke
This diary is in tribute to my Grandmother, who introduced me to wild food, and also to Euell Gibbons, who popularized it somewhat in the late 1960’s and 1970’s (perhaps you remember the commercial that went "Did you ever eat a pine tree?"). My Grandmother never wrote a book about it, but Gibbons did, several as a matter of fact. If you like nature and enjoy the outlook of a sixty year old child, I highly recommend Gibbons’ Stalking the Wild Asparagus. I love his sense of wonder. In any event, I promised to describe poke.
I guess I was four or five when my Grandmother (henceforth referred to as "Ma") and I got in her old, green Dodge and drove to the "country". One must understand that the town in which I lived had a sign that indicated that the population was 328, plus at least twice that many dogs. I am from rural west central Arkansas, bumping on the Oklahoma border. Hanging Judge Parker, Rooster Cogburn, and all. By the way, if you have seen "True Grit", you have had a wonderful opportunity to see the quaking aspens of Colorado. None of the film was made in Arkansas, but I digress.
Poke (some call it Poke Salad, some Poke Sallet) is a tall plant, Phytolacca americana, that is dispersed by seeds passing through the digestive tracts of birds. Once established, it develops a huge tap root and becomes perennial. This can be either a good or bad thing, depending if you want it where it decides to thrive. It seems to have a penchant for fences and gardens, usually with unwelcome results since it is very aggressive. But, since it was the first wild food that Ma showed me, I can not bring myself to eradicate it anywhere.
Wikipedia has some marginal pictures of poke, and completely, in my opinion, useless information about its preparation. If I find better pictures, I will update. The best way to find it is to look in the fall for tall, purple stemmed plants with deep purple berries and make a mental note to come back next spring.
Poke begins producing shoots as soon as the days get warm, even if is cold at night. I like the fat shoots, no more than six inches tall, the best, with leaves still tightly furled, but tender tips of larger plants are good as well. There is even a way to use very large plants. I give only two points of caution: never use the root for anything except for planting, as it is extremely toxic. Never eat any part of the plant with purple coloration. Otherwise, you will be OK.
Are you scared yet? Not to worry. I have eaten poke my entire life, and assure you that at 49, I have the body of a 70 year old. My doctor told me that I should give it back to him because I was getting it wrinkled. Sorry, old Leonard Barr joke.
As an aside, the deep purple berries, besides being attractive in their own right and also attractive for birds, make an excellent ink for writing. While I am unable to find specific examples, I am told, and believe, that many documents during the Colonial period and even later were written with goose quill and crushed pokeberries and are still legible. I have not done scientific experiments to determine the sun fastness of such ink, but very much believe that, if kept in a closed book, the ink would last essentially forever.
I am putting off telling you how to cook poke for a reason. There is more to admire about this plant. Its beauty and largeness are two reasons, but another is a little more obscure.
My mother (I will refer henceforth as "Mother" as opposed to her mum, already identified as "Ma") maintained that pokeberries were a cure for fungal infections. In particular, for those afflicted with exfoliation of the hands with itching, mashing up a handful of poke berries twice a day for several days will cure it. Likewise, athlete’s foot (Tenia pedis) may also be cured with direct application of poke berry juice for several days. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to cure, diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease. Mother was very definitive about this, though, and if I am ever afflicted with any of those conditions I will try poke first. The shocking purple stain that lasts for a couple of days would be covered with shoes for athlete’s foot, but in my mind I wonder about whether it works for jock itch, another Tenia infection. That would make for interesting conversations with a lover.
OK, OK, time to cook poke. This procedure works for both the stiff little shoots and the larger, growing tips. It is easy. Step by step:
• Wash and "look" your vegetables. This should be standard practice for any vegetable, especially store bought ones. Put it in the sink, flood with cold water, and remove anything that looks foreign. Simple enough.
• As you wash and look, put on a large vessel of water, open topped. A large soup kettle is excellent.
• When the water starts to boil, put in the poke. You will see an instant change to deep green, and a very distinctive odor will be produced. My wife thinks that is smells bad, but, as a five year old, I find it reminiscent. In any event, use a tool to make sure that everything is covered in the hot water and wait for the boil to recur.
• Like any "green", the volume of poke will decrease by about 80 per cent after the first few minutes of cooking. Keep everything under the water and boil/simmer for five minutes.
• Pour off all of this water and let the poke drain. The irritating compounds are water soluble and you want to drain them away from the eating material.
• Once drained, add fresh water sufficient to cover the wilted poke. Take back to a boil. Poke requires more cooking than, say, spinach. Spinach would be cooked by now; poke is not. Turn the heat down to a simmer.
• Add seasonings. Depending on how much you have, add however much salt you think is necessary. I always put in some bacon grease (I told you that I was an Arkansayer) as well. I am sure that butter would be good, like I use on asparagus, but bacon grease is traditional. Cayenne pepper is also traditional.
After another 20 minutes or so, you poke is done. You may eat it as it is, or make more elaborate dishes. I like it as it is. Just a little pepper sauce, some cornbread, and I am having a meal.
According to Ma and my Mother, here are other things that you can do with poke that is cooked. I do not endorse these, since I like my greens in their native state, but for you information, there is Poke and Eggs. It is sort of like an omelet. There is also Poke and Brains, sort of like W, but there are actually brains in it.
• Take equal parts of beaten eggs, seasoned as you like, and add cooked poke to it. Cook as you would any egg dish, since the poke is already cooked. Enjoy.
• Take equal parts of brains and poke, cook the brains, then stir in the poke. As a personal note, I ate everything that Ma gave me, except for brains. As an intellectual (yeah, right) I just could not consume even the brain of any other animal. Perversely, their muscles sure are good.
Finally, for all of the strict vegans, there is a poke dish that does not require any animal intervention, and it is really pretty good. As I said earlier, I am an Arkansawyer. This is sort of like fried okra.
• Take large poke stems, up to two inches in diameter, as long as they are not purple.
• Peel them, removing all of the woody, tough rind. A pithy, hollow center is OK, it will not cook hard.
• If you are a vegan, drizzle some okra juice over the bowl of poke. If not, drizzle an egg white over the bowl. Either way, turn the slices until coated with the thick liquid.
• Heat a skillet with about ½ inch of oil. I prefer soybean, but whatever you prefer for frying. Olive oil will impart its own distinction. I am not certain if this is a good thing is this case, but tastes differ.
• Take WHITE cornmeal and put salt and pepper as you like. Do not use YELLOW cornmeal. Trust me. Another tradition, but white meal makes a better looking final product.
• Put the coating in a bag or bowl and coat everything. Then fry the nuggets to the golden perfection that you like. I like mine sort of light, you might like yours more done.
• Last step: Enjoy!
I hope that this has been enjoyable. Please let me know in comments if I should continue this series. There are many other wild foods easily available and even some easy to raise on a windowsill for the most city of dwellers. Regards, and be well.