Pokeweed : A look into Annie's favorite salad ingredient.
By Sarah Mayson
Afterword by Alan Bergo
Photography by Alan Bergo
Across the entire eastern part of North America, the Appalachians, and moving west, there is a plant growing that most would consider an invasive weed. Yet, it is a multi-purpose functional weed. Seems to be an oxymoron but, depending on where you live and your family’s heritage, a person may have different feelings toward said weed.
Pokeweed. Pidgeon Berry. Pokeberry. Poke Salad. Polk Salad. Just a few names for the herbaceous, self-seeding perennial that is flagged for having poisonous characteristics. Yet it has been used for food and medicinal purposes for hundreds of years. The pokeweed grows 4-10 feet tall with white flowers and produces dark purplish berries in the late summer and into fall.
Even though it can be toxic to humans and domestic pets, when prepared correctly, the pokeweed can make a cheap, delicious meal. The most common way it is prepared for consumption is known as Polk Salad. In order for the plant to be eaten, the young, tender leaves of the pokeweed are harvested and boiled. Boiled twice, actually, and then often sauteed over high heat with bacon fat. The process of boiling allows the toxins to dissipate. The second boil, followed by a flash of high heat, is said to ensure that it is safe to eat. The younger the plant, the less toxins the plant has, but precautions should be taken when handling it. Using gloves helps prevent any chemicals being transferred though the skin.
The dark colored berries that are produced are a great food source for several species of birds and small animals such as foxes, opossums and racoons. According to the North Carolina Extension, pokeberries have also been used to dye fabrics, yarns and wool. The berries are smashed and heated in vinegar-water solution. Once heated, the plant material can be strained out and the fabrics added to the solution to soak for a length of time to gain the desired color depth.
The berries also serve as the seed holders to allow for reproduction. The large black seeds are housed in the flesh of the berries and have a long viability. This ensures that the species can survive for years to come.
Once the plant has grown and produced for the year, the stems become hollow, allowing bees to take up residence, providing a natural habitat for native species. History shows that humans can be incredibly resourceful, even with something that could be harmful to them. Polkweed is just one example of this.
The infamous weed was recognized in a song, “Polk Salad Annie” written in 1968 by Tony Joe White. It showed up on the charts at number eight in 1969. A few years later, in 1972, Elvis performed it, bringing it even more popularity. The single tells the story of Annie, an impoverished woman from Louisiana, cooking the roadside weeds every night for supper because they were free during hard times in the South.
*Article for lore and educational purposes only. Aiken Hound & Home Magazine in no way endorses preparing or consuming polkweed without experience.
References- What Is Poke Salad? This Southern Food Starts With A Weed
Phytolacca americana (American Pokeweed, Common Pokeweed, Garnet, Pidgeon
Berry, Poke, Pokeberry, Pokeweed, Scoke) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant
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Afterword by Alan Bergo
Pokeweed is a good example of how a plant can be two things at once: poisonous, as well as edible and genuinely delicious when properly prepared. Contrary to a lot of folk wisdom, pokeweed can be harvested anytime before it begins to flower—I’ve collected edible shoots more than five feet tall. It should never be eaten raw, and the leaves and young shoots must always be cooked in multiple changes of water to leach out toxins.
My favorite part of the plant is the thick shoots from older, established plants, which, after peeling, require only a single boil of about ten minutes. They have a pleasant, grassy flavor and keep a firmer texture compared to the leaves, which tend to become mushy. Fried with bacon and eggs and finished with hot sauce or pepper vinegar, pokeweed makes one of the best breakfasts I know—and it’s free.
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