Did you know people really eat poke salad?

Question

My grandmother a dear countrified woman taught me to identify it as a child. I would be sent to pick it and bring it home. She cooked it twice otherwise I think it could make you sick.
She was also the one who told me as achild in poverty they had actually possum but only when nothing else was available...and it was too greasy.
I'd like to learn the proper name for the plant I call Poke Salad. It grows up to 6 feet has a reddish stalk and black to dark purple berries. You do not eat the berries. Just the leaves. Best when young and tender.

Answer 1

I've only had poke salad once, cooked by a friend's mom, they were a ranch/farm family in Osceola County Florida...;)

Here are some links to information about poke weed:

poke weed, poke berry (Phytolacca americana),
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/AG254

and I found this article at Dixie Dining.com
http://www.dixiedining.com/column/column_jan2004.htm

hmmm, a remedy, from the American Cancer Society:
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/eto/content/eto_5_3x_pokeweed.asp?sitearea=eto

Answer 2

The name is Pokeweed and it can be poisonous if not prepared correctly.

The pokeweeds, also known as poke, pokebush, pokeberry, pokeroot, polk salad, polk sallet, inkberry or ombú, comprise the genus Phytolacca, perennial plants native to North America, South America, East Asia and New Zealand. Pokeweed contains phytolaccatoxin and phytolaccigenin, which are poisonous to mammals. However, the berries are eaten by birds, which are not affected by the toxin because the small seeds with incredibly hard outer shells remain intact in the digestive system and are eliminated whole

Young pokeweed leaves can be boiled three times to reduce the toxin, discarding the water after each boiling. The result is known as poke salit, or Poke salad, and is occasionally available commercially.[1] Many authorities advise against eating pokeweed even after thrice boiling, as traces of the toxin may still remain. For many decades, Poke salad has been a staple of southern U.S. cuisine, despite campaigns by doctors who believed pokeweed remained toxic even after being boiled. The lingering cultural significance of Poke salad can be seen in the 1969 hit song "Polk Salad Annie" by written and performed by Tony Joe White, famously covered by Elvis Presley and the El Orbits. Pokeberry juice is added to other juices for jelly by those who believe it can relieve the pain

Answer 3

It is actually polk salad, a weed that you described. I have mentioned this on Yahoo Questions when I asked all of my senior friends (such as yourself) to hear Tony Joe White on You-Tube (sp) singing "Polk Salad Annie" because he wrote and song and it became popular. He grew up poor himself and yes, it is edible. I am told it tastes like turnip greens. I have never seen it available where I live, but my senior friends know of it well and have cooked it and eaten it.

Tony Joe White also wrote "Rainy Night in Georgia" that was recorded by Brook Benton and Elvis Presley as well. I knew him well in the late 60's. He lives in Tennessee now.

I really don't know any other name for the plant.

Answer 4

We have several poke plants here where I live. Growing right here in the yard. After they get so tall, if nobody wants them, we cut them down. We have some that are way taller than I am. Mom use to take the berries and make poke jelly out of them. Only one problem there, it takes so many of them to make jelly.

Answer 5

Yes and in fact, I used to cook this for my uncle. My Dad loved these greens with scrambled eggs in them! They are delicious like that.

We always boiled them, drained all the water out, refill and boil again. This was done, three times! Then, he whipped eggs, put the polk salad in a skillet and added a small amount of butter. Once the butter was melted, he would add the whipped eggs and it was so light and fluffy! YUM! Now, I am hungry!

Answer 6

I think it is a poke plant. We eat it every spring. Even know a man who cuts his down when it gets too big to be safe and it grows back young and good to eat. He does this all summer so we put it in the freezer. YUMMY!
In the early 90's I used to be able to buy it in cans at the grocery store. Haven't seen it lately though.

Answer 7

I love poke salad. Eat it twice a year. It really gives a great internal cleanse. As other said, you must boil it THREE times, pouring the water off.

Answer 8

poke salad is a type of greens you can eat them i like mine fixed like spinach,but you do have to boil them two or three times,my grandmother told me they were poison is the reason for boiling,you can also cut the stalk like okra and fry it likwe okra and it tasts just like okra,my mother cooks the left over stalk,she waste nothing.but is is actually called poke salad

Answer 9

you put vinegar on it.
personally I prefer turnip greens,or spinach.
I think in the area where I grew up you can drive down the road and still see women out cutting those weeds to cook.they grow wild there.

Answer 10

My family called it poke salad, we grew it right by the house, my parents loved it, I didn't.