Some jasmine and some wild foods

[asakiyume]

ETA: I do want to acknowledge and warn that all milkweeds are toxic, and some are more toxic than others. I used common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), which is less toxic than other species, and the blanching process removes toxins. Please be very careful if you try this yourself: look at a number of online foraging sources, and know your milkweed... I speak as someone who once poisoned herself with mushrooms--I don't want to have your illness on my conscience.

Here is the jasmine, so pretty, so fragrant!



And below this cut are before-and-after shots of fried immature milkweed pods. This are very tasty! I've mad them in past years, but this year they're like a garden crop, I have so much in my yard. I've cooked them twice already.



Here they are raw. You blanch them in boiling water, then coat them in egg, then dredge them in flavored cornmeal or flour or breadcrumbs, then either pan-fry them or deep-fry them (I pan fry them).



Here they are cooked:



And beneath this cut is a portrait of my staghorn sumac tree, plus some sun-brewed sumac tea (or sumac-ade), made by squeezing/bruising the berries, covering them in cold water, and letting them sit out in the sun for a while. The result is very fragrant and mildly sour in a nice way.



Pretty sumac




Sumac tea--look at all the natural oils up top



Good night, all!

Comments

[ranunculus]

Fried foods seldom interest me, but the sumac tea sounds delightful.

[asakiyume]

It's very nice!

[minoanmiss]

Yay wild foods!

[asakiyume]

\(^o^)/

[rachelmanija]

The milkweed pods look delicious, like squash blossoms.

[asakiyume]

They are very delicious! I think they'd be delicious even without the breading; I'm going to try them just in a stir-fry next time (but after blanching).

[pameladean]

The milkweed pods look delectable! I always thought milkweed was poisonous, and available online information is not very helpful (a bunch of Poison Control Centers just basically yell, "JUST DON'T, WE DON'T WANT TO SORT YOU OUT." But I gather that the boiling process is supposed to denature the toxins, and that common milkweed is much less toxic than a lot of other milkweed species.

Obviously you are still here, so.

P.

[asakiyume]

Strong yes to everything you say! Common milkweed is less toxic than other sorts, and the boiling does neutralize the toxins... and also, I'm/we're not eating a lot at one time.

[pameladean]

It's an interesting kind of food to contemplate, truly. Reduce toxicity and then don't eat too much at a time.

P.

[asakiyume]

:-)

Indigenous North Americans apparently ate it all the time! If you search on "milkweed edible" you'll come up with First Nations pages as well as forager pages ... and thinking of how poisonous cassava can be--and yet is the main starch in much of the tropics--I guess I think mainly how adaptive people are.

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, yes indeed. I think of rhubarb too, and potatoes -- you can eat the greens of several root vegetables, but not that one-- and so on.

[asakiyume]

Definitely!

[wyld_dandelyon]

Ooooh, I didn't know about fried milkweed pods. We have milkweed (planted for the butterflies), so we shall have to try them.

[asakiyume]

All milkweed is toxic, but you can eat the immature (under two inches) pods of common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) if you boil them first before frying them. But be careful! Be sure you know what kind of milkweed you've got, that the pods are immature, and that you boil them first. ... I don't want you to get sick on my account!

[sovay]

Here they are cooked

They look like fried okra! I would drink sumac tea.

[asakiyume]

They do look like fried okra, don't they. They're not mucilaginous, though: they're kind of crunchy like green beans. Not quite as dense as green beans, though.

[summersgate]

That is so cool about the milkweed pods. I had no idea they were edible. Will have to try them!

[asakiyume]

They are delicious! But I am worried now about encouraging you to try something that could potentially make you sick. All milkweed is toxic, just some species less so than others. Common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca, is less toxic. But you want to be sure you know what you're harvesting. And you really do need to boil it to remove the toxins. Many people do eat it--you will find lots of recipes from various foragers if you look--but I wouldn't try it unless you're sure what you have is common milkweed.

[osprey_archer]

The fried milkweed pods look delicious! Do you stuff them, or just eat them as-is?

Also fascinated by the sumac tea. It sounds refreshing for a hot day.

[asakiyume]

Just as is: the innards--which will eventually become seeds and silk, are crunchy and light.

The sumac tea is really wonderful.

[zdenka]

I didn't know you could eat milkweed pods! But the cooked ones look tasty! Sumac tea sounds delicious.

[asakiyume]

You can eat them if (a) the species of milkweed is common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), (b) if you pick them when they're immature (under two inches), and (c) if you blanch them (put them in boiling water for two minutes) before you go on to fry them. If you do all those things, they are very tasty... but milkweed is toxic, and some milkweed (species that aren't common milkweed) are VERY toxic, so you need to be careful.

The sumac tea is great! And staghorn sumac isn't poison at all ;-) (Unlike the aptly named poison sumac--which fortunately looks completely different, white berries instead of red)

[amaebi]

Can you describe the flavor of the milkweed pods?

[asakiyume]

It's very mild. People compare the pods to eating okra, I think because of the shape, but also maybe a little because of the flavor--but the milkweed isn't mucilaginous at all; it's crunchy all the way through. It's a little like eating green beans (though the flavor isn't beany) in texture, but not quite as dense. It's very pleasant!

[amaebi]

Something like chayote, but crunchier?

[asakiyume]

I've never had chayote! It's kind of like if you imagined a lot of very mild lettuce all bunched up together tightly--that sort of crunch and flavor.

[amaebi]

Thanks!

[mallorys_camera]

Now I want to hear all about the time you poisoned yourself with mushrooms! 😀

Have you always been interested in foraging? How did that interest start?

[asakiyume]

I'll tell you that story one day ;-)

I guess yes, I always have? I wanted to be the gatherer part of hunter-gatherer. As a kid, I would spend hours at the right time of year picking black raspberries. It was a reason to be out in wild land, places nobody was interested in (mainly beside railroad tracks or in empty lots), just, essentially, hanging out. Just wandering aimlessly and enjoyin the company of the world around me. And then I'd take my haul home and we'd eat it with whipped cream, and later on I started making jelly out of it.

There's a kind of profound laziness about it? Or childishness? I just want to sit in the lap of the world and have it provide for me without my doing a thing (beyond sauntering here and there, looking for stuff). No strife, no worries. I don't think I ever was so foolish as to believe that that was possible: after all, there are no berries for much of the year. And berries aren't very many calories. But in the moment, when I was deep in the raspberry canes, just picking, it felt exactly like that: like I was in the cupped hand of the universe, being given treats.

Maybe that was what prompted me to learn more: I want to know *all* the gifts that are laid out for us that we're just passing by.

In actuality, a lot of forage-able foods are not all that delicious or take a lot of work to get, or are not very plentiful, or are what the foraging books describe as a "nibble"--like, you can chew on this and it has a nice flavor, but it's not really a food. So now I restrict myself to things that just fling themselves in my face with their bounty (and that are pleasant to eat).

[sonia]

like I was in the cupped hand of the universe, being given treats.

Yes! I have always felt like wild blackberries warm from the sun are a sacrament. Especially during a long bike ride!

[asakiyume]

^_^ agreed, especially on a long bike ride

[noachoc]

You know, I was just looking at my sumac and thinking "I'm pretty sure there was something I intended to make out of that when it bloomed" but couldn't remember

[asakiyume]

It's so easy! Just pick them, squeeze them, pour cold water over them, and let them sit in the sun. Or if you're in a hurry, you can use heat on the stove ;-)

[okrablossom]

You...eat? milkweed??

mind blown

[asakiyume]

I do! And apparently it was common for indigenous communities to eat it.

A Potawatomi website talks about eating the sprouts

UMaine website references various native people's uses

And you will find tons more!

[wayfaringwordhack]

Delicious harvest! I also have a sumac but it is such a young one still. i think I have maybe three or so "seed/berry heads" on this year. I will have to try some tea/ade. In French they call it a "vinaigrier" (vinegar-producer, roughly translated) on account of its sourness. Do you use the berries as seasonings like they do in a lot of Oriental food. It is one of the main ingredients in zaatar, the Lebanese spice mix.

[asakiyume]

When I learned, some years ago, that sumac was a major flavorer in near-Eastern food, I wanted to try drying some and using it, but I haven't. I think I may also have read that it's a different type of sumac? Although if both types have similar flavor, mine might work just as well.

--Nope, looks like what I have will work perfectly! (I have staghorn sumac.)

[wayfaringwordhack]

Excellent. Looking forward to hearing about more home-grown and foraged culinary delights.

[smokingboot]

So interesting, I have heard of Sumac tea, but not of milkweed pods, don't think we get them here. How long do you blanch them for?

Also, love jasmine!

[asakiyume]

Isn't jasmine lovely?

I blanched them for two minutes.

[smokingboot]

Thanks for the tip :-)

Re Jasmine, it's the breath of heaven, I have never found a man made perfume that comes even close to echoing its note.

My very favourite is night flowering, Gallan De Noche. It brings me beautiful dreams!

[asakiyume]

I haven't experienced night-blooming jasmine, but I stand willing and eager! I completely agree about man-made perfumes versus jasmine's natural, actual scent.