Bill Skinner
|
It's Poke Salat or Sallet, which is a cooked mass of greens. If they aren't cooked, they are a salad.
To start with, every part of the plant is poisonous but the roods and berries are highly toxic. And they cannot be made safe to eat. Nor can any part of the plant be eaten raw. And the older the plant is, the more toxic it is.
To prepare, and as some people get sick from handling, you may want to wear gloves. Pick a grocery bag full. That will make about two servings. Maybe. You are going to really cook them down.
Put in a pot and bring to a roiling boil for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on how mature the plant was. The older the plant, the longer you boil. Dump the water and rinse with cold water. Dump the cold water. Add more water and bring to a roiling boil for the same amount of time. Dump the water and rinse with cold again. Dump the rinse. Bring to a roiling boil again for the same amount of time. Dump the water and rinse with cold. Dump the cold. Now, cook it like collards or spinach, add salt or other spices and fatback or bacon.
My favorite way is after the three boils and rinses is to take the greens and fry them in bacon grease. Dump them and let the grease drain and add the crumbled up bacon. And salt and pepper to taste. And eat.
Poke Salat is in the nightshade family, as is the Irish Potato and the tomato. It's safe if you prepare it correctly and not very if you don't. Usually, if you eat some raw leaves, you will get stomach cramps and the runs like you wouldn't believe. You'll be puking and pooping at the same time. The berries usually kill any children that eat them. The roots will kill adults.
The Poke Salat Festival was in May in Arab, Alabama, which is just outside Montgomery.
|