If you read enough books on folklore, folkways, foodways, and cultural history of the USA South, you will eventually come across references to a foodstuff called “poke” or “poke sallat.” If you hear enough stories from the “old folks” in Southern families, this food may well come up.
Though the food was poor folk fare, it was eaten by both blacks and whites in the South. Because it grew abundantly as a weed, it could collected freely by slaves, free blacks, and whites to fill out what were sometimes thin meals when other staples were low.
I have never eaten it, but I decided to share this information on this foodstuff to show just how tenacious and resourceful people in the South could be. It a clue to how well they persevered under what could be rather harsh living conditions.
“Poke grows as a weed in much of North America. In the South, it’s been foraged and eaten as a vegetable for centuries.” --Joe York, What is Poke Sallet? Southern Foodways Alliance, 2015“Poke sallet”, also known as "pokeweed greens," is a regional food eaten only in the American South and Appalachia. This dish is made with the cooked greens of the plant known as “American pokeweed.”“Pokeweed, or poke sallet (‘salad’), grows natively with astonishing vigor across the American South.” --Allison O. Adams, A Mess of Poke, October 17, 2011
The plant's inherent toxicity hasn't deterred those who swear by its delicious flavor and purported medicinal properties. --Abby Carney, How Did This Poisonous Plant Become One of the American South's Most Long-Standing Staples? February 6, 2018
American pokeweed (Phytolacca Americana), commonly known as “pokeweed,” “poke root,” “pokeberry,” “inkberry,” “pigeon berry,” “poke,” “poke salad,” ”poke sallet,” “Virginia poke,” “pocan,” “cancer jalep,” is a leafy weed with purple-red--almost black—berries. It is native to much of North America. The plant is a perennial weed. The oblong leaves grow on green to red or purplish stalks. It grew abundantly in the USA South. This plant can grow to as tall as 15 feet.
Poke or pokeweed is poisonous, and its toxicity levels increase as the plant matures.
The leaves must be boiled in water three times to cook out their toxins, and, as aficionados will tell you, it’s well worth the extra effort. --Joe York, What is Poke Sallet? Southern Foodways Alliance, 2015 .I had indeed heard of something about “’poke’ cooked as greens“ in my youth. I also remember a comment that this plant had to be “gathered in the wild correctly and cooked right” or it “could make you very, very sick.” When I asked, “Why?”--as all children do--my mother answered bluntly, “It could kill you. It’s poisonous if you don’t cook it right.” That comment stuck in my young mind—as I am sure it was intended to stick there.All parts of the plant are considered poisonous although many people eat the cooked immature green shoots, when they are 4 -6 inches tall. Recipes call for boiling the immature stems and leaves in several changes of water. The plant becomes more toxic as it matures and the stem becomes reddish purple. --Sharon LaPlante, Pokeweed - Sharon's Florida, 1998 - 2018.
I believe that this conversation may have taken place during the family nature/birding walks. Though poisonous to humans , cattle , and horses--pokeweed berries do serve as a food source for various species of birds--such as mockingbirds, orioles, tanagers, waxwings, woodpeckers, wrens, catbirds, thrashers, bluebirds and other thrushes. If my family was on one of those birding walks, my mother would have likely also brought up the toxicity to humans, but not to birds.
If my memory is correct, her comments revolved around a cautionary bit of lore about NOT eating any wild growing things without knowing what EXACTLY what they were. Plus--just because I see animals eating something--it did not mean that I could eat it safely.
I am certain that “poke sallat”/"polkweed greens" was never served at our table, because my mother never learned to cook it from someone who did.
On the other hand, my husband does remember hearing about “pokeweed” being on the menu of foods eaten by some of his father’s family living in the West Virginia mountains. His parents, however, never ate “pokeweed” and neither did any of his siblings.
But if pokeweed is so toxic, why did people start eating it in the first place? In a word, poke sallet is survival food. --Joe York, What is Poke Sallet? Southern Foodways Alliance, 2015Yet in a later paragraph, Adams added:Folks ate it [poke] because they were poor, and poke grows everywhere. --Allison O. Adams, A Mess of Poke October 17, 2011
My maternal grandmother, at least, kept eating poke sallet long after she no longer had to because she loved the stuff. Mee-Ma lived with us in the northeast Georgia mountains when I was in my early teens. She would take a grocery sack on her walks along the country roads near our house and pick the smallest, most tender leaves of the weed. She’d bring a ton of it back to the house, wash it thoroughly, and boil it three times until the house stank like sulfur springs. Then she would scramble it in eggs with bacon grease until the eggs were brownish-green and the house really stank. She’d eat the entire mess with a big hunk of cornbread crumbled in a tall glass of buttermilk.-- Allison O. Adams, A Mess of Poke October 17, 2011In other words, some folks developed a taste for this Southern dish and long kept fond memories of enjoying eating it.
I recently discovered the following recipes in two of my mother’s many cookbooks:
Pokeweed GreensI’m a bit alarmed that neither of these venerable cook books warn about the toxicity of “poke” or pokeweed.” Thus, to these over-simplified directions, I will add the following from Scott Sexton:To cook, prepare by stripping leaves from stalk; rinse and cook quickly in same manner as spinach. -- Marion Brown, Marion Brown's Southern Cook Book, 1951, p. 267.
Poke Sallat
Gather all the sallat you can find (it cooks down). Pick 6-or-7 inch shoots. Wash and clean; swim the shoots in plenty of water in a big pot and boil until tender.
Meanwhile, slice the pan of country bacon and fry out the grease. When the poke is tender, drain off the water it was cooked in, and cover it [AGAIN] with [FRESH] cold water. Squeeze it [the poke] out of the cold water into the hot bacon grease. Salt to taste , and cook slowly until hot through. Serve with fried bacon and hot corn bread. -- Lillian Bertram Marshall, Southern Living Cooking Across the South: A collection and Recollection of Favorite Regional Recipes, 1980 , p. 253
BE SAFE
Nutritionally, pokeweed is a powerhouse plant. It’s a dynamite source of vitamins A and C, and a good source of calcium and iron, too. But how do you get to that nutrition without poisoning yourself?Poke leaves are boiled before eating. Opinions differ as to how long they must be boiled and in how many changes of water. This is how I do it:
- Boil the leaves for 1 minute.
- Pour out the water and bring new water to a boil.
- Now boil the leaves for another full minute.
- Change out the water and boil for 15 minutes.
The whole process looks like this:
Boil 1 minute –> Change water –> Boil 1 minute –> Change water –> Boil 15 minutes
Remember, your timer doesn’t start until the water reaches a full boil. You can keep a second pot of water boiling so that you don’t have to wait for the water to heat up every time.
If you want to err on the cautious side, you can always boil it longer. Two boils of 15 minutes each, or three boils of 10 minutes each, are common cooking protocols. --Scott Sexton, Pokeweed: The Weed, the Myth, the Legend April 24, 2018.
I think it would be wise to throw all the boiled water away immediately--and carefully wash the water pan with soap.
I am not foolhardy enough to attempt to gather wild pokeweed myselfself---especially since I have never picked it before.
I would advise caution if you attempt it.... Unless you are already SOMEONE who actually knows something about botany, edible and medicinal wild herbs, foraging for wild plants, and how to collect these plants--I’m serious--find your own local expert, because I have no valuable advice other than: ”Do NOT collect plants for ingesting, UNLESS you are accompanied by an EXPERT, who has genuine KNOWLEDGE of this activity.”
One more quote from Scott Sexton:
Pokeweed (Phytolacca Americana) is a milestone plant for many foragers. It’s the first plant that many of us eat that could also kill us.But Why Do Some People call It Sallet?Don’t get me wrong. Correctly prepared, pokeweed is absolutely safe. It’s also highly nutritious and delicious. But it’s a rare person who doesn’t feel at least a little trepidation when cooking and eating it for the first time. --Scott Sexton, Pokeweed: The Weed, the Myth, the Legend, April 24, 2018.
It is quite interesting that the Vulgar Latin salata, from the Latin sal (salt). Some people traditionally season the Southern dish with salt, vinegar, and/or olive oil.
The word, “sallet,” is derived from the Vulgar Latin, salata--short for herba salata, "salted vegetables"--vegetables seasoned with brine, a popular classical Roman dish.
The Latin salata meant vegetables/herbs severed with a dressing of vinegar, oil, and salt.
The term first walked into English spelled as "sallet" and "salad" in the 14th century. It hopped over from the 14th century Old French salade . Yes, Anglo-Norman French was used in England--and to a lesser extent, elsewhere in the British Isles from the 13th to the 15th century. William the Conqueror brought a French aristocracy to England in the 11th century.
Apparently, the word “sallet” was preserved in some of the dialects in the British Isles. At some point, “sallet” then later traveled with those settling in different portions of the South. It’s why I dubbed this page “Poke Sallet or Pokeweed Greens?”
Disclaimer: The creators of "That Hoodoo..." accept no responsibility for someone deciding to cook American pokeweed. We urge people to not ingest any wild plant without the advice of an expert, who has genuine KNOWLEDGE of botany, edible, medicinal, and poisonous wild plants, as well as KNOWLEDGE of foraging for wild herbs, and how to collect these different plants. We also remind people not to gather herbs from privately owned lands without permission.
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