Edible things that nobody knows about

[Teaching3bears]

Which things can you eat and are tasty or have a neutral taste but that people don’t eat or consider food?  It might be things we ate in the past but not anymore.  Or things eaten in some parts of the world that most of the world does not eat.

[Laura Corin]

I ate a lot of vegetables in China that were edible but not particularly interesting.  There was still a tradition there, I think, of foraging for/cultivating a wider range of greens.

[Condessa]

Natal plums are edible and fairly tasty.  They are commonly used as an ornamental shrub in Southern California where I grew up, and a number of times strange adults would want to intervene when my siblings and I were eating them on public property, because people generally assume they aren’t edible.

Edited September 18, 2020 by Michelle Conde

[DawnM]

 

We ate flying termites growing up.   We would pull their wings off and fry them in butter and then salt them.

 

At school, the boys let them crawl down their throats while still alive.   They pinch, so it was a macho type thing (aka: boy dumb stuff.)

[Jean in Newcastle]

I used to catch grasshoppers in the rice paddies with my friends.  I would give them my share because they would take them home for dinner (boiled in soy sauce) and we did not eat them!

I will gross you out and tell you that my Filipino dh likes to eat balut (duck embryo that is boiled and eaten in the shell).  I have eaten all sorts of things including bird's nest soup, sea urchin and horsemeat but I can't get myself to eat balut. 

[Tanaqui]

Acorns - you have to prep them first by soaking in several changes of water, but you can eat them.

You can also eat the leaf and/or root parts of many "weeds". Just be careful if you're foraging in a neighborhood - between dogs and fertilizers, the amount of washing necessary might not be worth it.

[maize]

I've eaten a grasshopper, during military survival training.

Cattail roots are edible, so are the bulbs of most lilies, maybe all--I don't know for sure.

Sweet potato leaves are edible and high in nutrients.

[Farrar]

Pawpaws? We passed a ton recently on a hike. My kids were appalled that I ate one.

[Elizabeth86]

13 minutes ago, Farrar said:

Pawpaws? We passed a ton recently on a hike. My kids were appalled that I ate one.

I came to say the same thing.

Also poke salad or poke weed I guess. From my understanding you have to eat it when it's small and young. 

Dandelion, y'all knew that though, right?

My grandma used to talk about all kinds of greens they used to pick and eat, but I have forgotten them now.

[Elizabeth86]

3 hours ago, Tanaqui said:

Acorns - you have to prep them first by soaking in several changes of water, but you can eat them.

You can also eat the leaf and/or root parts of many "weeds". Just be careful if you're foraging in a neighborhood - between dogs and fertilizers, the amount of washing necessary might not be worth it.

Oh, years ago, ds asked dh and me if you could eat acorns.  We said we didn't think so, but we looked it up and told him yes. He wanted to do it and never did. He remembered from at least 4 years ago and asked us again to prepare acorns for him.  Ugh we suck.

[Elizabeth86]

7 hours ago, Seasider too said:

Well this is more along the lines of traditional medicines rather than edibles, but as a teen I remember going boating and skiing in the bayous. Sometimes folks (probably with hangovers from the night before) would pull up to a willow tree and shave off a little strip of bark to chew on. It has the effect of taking an aspirin. 

My dh eats apples in their entirety - I would have never thought the core edible, but he chews and swallows it along with the rest.

I am tickled by the fact that a lot of beautiful flowers are edible - violets, roses, hibiscus, dandelion, among others. At the same time, I am afraid of meeting the fate of the guy from Into the Wild, so I wouldn’t trust myself to identify a safe edible plant, I’d have to go forage with an expert I trust. 

My oldest ds used to eat the whole apple too, but not anymore.  My 2 year old was eating watermelon rind this year.  My kids are weird.

[maize]

16 minutes ago, Farrar said:

Pawpaws? We passed a ton recently on a hike. My kids were appalled that I ate one.

I can't get pawpaws to grow here, I've planted four at different times and they struggle along for a couple of years and then die.

I guess there's a reason they don't grow natively west of the Rockies.

I've found that juneberries and mulberries are good plants for urban foraging.

 

[Ausmumof3]

Celery leaves.  My Italian neighbour used to add the leaves to her soup and I’ve started doing that as well.  
 

I haven’t personally eaten this but apparently Lerp are edible. They are an insect that stick themselves to gum leaves and make a coating over themselves.  They are supposed to be very sweet so they were like a sugary snack for indigenous people.  

[Farrar]

14 minutes ago, maize said:

I can't get pawpaws to grow here, I've planted four at different times and they struggle along for a couple of years and then die.

I guess there's a reason they don't grow natively west of the Rockies.

I've found that juneberries and mulberries are good plants for urban foraging.

 

Oh yes! Mulberries are great. My mother was shocked that my kids ate them on a walk near her house years ago. A family friend lives in a neighborhood with a ton so they had helped collect them and make pies. My mom had no idea they were edible.

[happi duck]

I think the hive would know this but one can roast more than just pumpkin seeds.  

[freesia]

12 minutes ago, Farrar said:

Oh yes! Mulberries are great. My mother was shocked that my kids ate them on a walk near her house years ago. A family friend lives in a neighborhood with a ton so they had helped collect them and make pies. My mom had no idea they were edible.

I used to eat them on the way to school. It’s one of my best memories—my kids even know about it. I love mulberries!

[Miss Tick]

47 minutes ago, maize said:

I can't get pawpaws to grow here, I've planted four at different times and they struggle along for a couple of years and then die.

I'm in the Midwest and have had one of the three trees I planted do really well. Yay! We have been getting fruits the last two weeks.

Ground cherries (physalis) seem to be relatively unknown.  The fruits look like tiny tomatillos. My great aunt showed up at my grandma's house with some she had found growing in a ditch. I saved some seeds and have kept a few in my garden for the last 20 years. Huh. Never did that math before.

 

Edited September 18, 2020 by SusanC
typos delenda est

[Carol in Cal.]

I hear that some eat the insides of apricot pits.  I tried one this year, and it reminded me a lot of marzipan, which I don't care for.  

I personally love kumquats, but some people think they are inedible because of the seeds.

 

[Rosie_0801]

Daughter had her grandmother screeching at her for eating blackberry nightshade. So dd now eats it when Grandmother isn't looking. 

[Elizabeth86]

8 minutes ago, Margaret in CO said:

Well, my LEAD kids didn't think you could eat bear! I'm hoping dd still has some ground. If so, I'll fry it up for them. I think she might have some sausage. She needs to get another bear this week!

I've never had it prepared that tasted very good. Can you share some tips.  We had a friend offer us some bear last year and I declined 

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

I used to catch grasshoppers in the rice paddies with my friends.  I would give them my share because they would take them home for dinner (boiled in soy sauce) and we did not eat them!

I will gross you out and tell you that my Filipino dh likes to eat balut (duck embryo that is boiled and eaten in the shell).  I have eaten all sorts of things including bird's nest soup, sea urchin and horsemeat but I can't get myself to eat balut. 

I saw that once on some dumb TV show. They had to eat balut. I thought that was the most revolting and barbaric thing ever. It took me ages to stop that image from intruding in my head! 

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, SusanC said:

I'm in the Midwest and have had one of the three trees I planted do really well. Yay! We have been getting fruits the last two weeks.

Ground cherries (physalis) seem to be relatively unknown.  The fruits look like tiny tomatillos. My great aunt showed up at my grandma's house with some she had found growing in a ditch. I saved some seeds and have kept a few in my garden for the last 20 years. Huh. Never did that math before.

 

My sister grows these in her garden. I thought at first they were tomatillos. 

[bibiche]

35 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

I hear that some eat the insides of apricot pits.  I tried one this year, and it reminded me a lot of marzipan, which I don't care for.  

I adore apricot pits. You’re not supposed to eat too many because of the risk of cyanide poisoning. I eat them plain and also add them to dishes where I would use bitter almonds if I had them (same flavor).

[katilac]

5 hours ago, DawnM said:

We ate flying termites growing up.   We would pull their wings off and fry them in butter and then salt them.

Dare I ask what they taste like? We could probably catch pounds of them here when they swarm, but it's still a hard pass for me. 

1 hour ago, Elizabeth86 said:

Oh, years ago, ds asked dh and me if you could eat acorns.  We said we didn't think so, but we looked it up and told him yes. He wanted to do it and never did. He remembered from at least 4 years ago and asked us again to prepare acorns for him.  Ugh we suck.

If it's been four years since he first asked, he is now old enough to do it himself, lol. 

37 minutes ago, Quill said:

 They had to eat balut. I thought that was the most revolting and barbaric thing ever.  

Why barbaric? I mean, I don't want any myself, but why is eating a duck embryo any more barbaric than eating a duck? 

A lot of people think you can't eat garfish, but you can and they're quite tasty. 

[Lori D.]

Pineapple guava -- the fruit, but also the flower petals are edible, which most people don't realize.

Edited September 18, 2020 by Lori D.

[Elizabeth86]

13 minutes ago, katilac said:

Dare I ask what they taste like? We could probably catch pounds of them here when they swarm, but it's still a hard pass for me. 

If it's been four years since he first asked, he is now old enough to do it himself, lol. 

Why barbaric? I mean, I don't want any myself, but why is eating a duck embryo any more barbaric than eating a duck? 

A lot of people think you can't eat garfish, but you can and they're quite tasty. 

Haha, yeah he's 8 now, but he didn't remember what we needed to do.  Maybe a weekend project for us?

[katilac]

26 minutes ago, Elizabeth86 said:

Haha, yeah he's 8 now, but he didn't remember what we needed to do.  Maybe a weekend project for us?

My hazy memories from reading Hatchet or something is that you need to grind it and soak it, then kind of sieve it through cheesecloth or something. Let's see how accurate I am (off to google). 

I wasn't too far off, just over-complicating it. I think my wilderness characters were trying to make flour.  "Foraged acorns should be cleaned, shelled, and boiled to reduce their levels of harmful tannins. They can then be roasted for an easy snack or ground into flour for baking." from Healthline. And then way more details from Honest Food.

So a pretty easy weekend project if you boil and roast them! Report back, lol. 

[Tanaqui]

1 hour ago, Quill said:

I saw that once on some dumb TV show. They had to eat balut. I thought that was the most revolting and barbaric thing ever. It took me ages to stop that image from intruding in my head! 

 

Wow, that's a nice way to talk about another culture's foods.

[*****]

I too just read that the leaves from sweet potato plant can be eaten.  I was growing a plant this summer in a stump, just for the pretty vine basically.  Along came a deer and ate several leaves. But, newly formed ones grew back in just a few days, how amazing!  So I looked it up and it said they young ones especially are often eaten raw or cooked.  I tasted it and it wasn't bad!

 I learned earlier this year that leaves from other vegetables we grow can be eaten as well, like from Kohlrabi, broccoli, etc., best when young.  

I wish I knew more about foraging, weeds are very nutritious...

Anyone ever eat the berries from a Garden Huckleberry?  I have 2 plants this year, although I heard you need to cook the berry but they are not great. They really do not taste like a real huckleberry. 

[Lady Marmalade]

There's a lot of weeds that are edible.  Lamb's Quarters, Purslane, Sorrel, Burdock root, stinging nettle, and dandelion all come to mind as weeds that grow here that are edible.

Personally, I don't consume any of them. I think if we knew actual hunger I could convince myself to do so, but mostly I'm not interested.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, katilac said:

Dare I ask what they taste like? We could probably catch pounds of them here when they swarm, but it's still a hard pass for me. 

If it's been four years since he first asked, he is now old enough to do it himself, lol. 

Why barbaric? I mean, I don't want any myself, but why is eating a duck embryo any more barbaric than eating a duck? 

A lot of people think you can't eat garfish, but you can and they're quite tasty. 

It looked quite horrible to me, breaking open an egg and eating a baby duck. Considerably more awful to me than eating a roasted (grown) duck. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Tanaqui said:

 

Wow, that's a nice way to talk about another culture's foods.

Oh come on. I think mayonnaise is revolting, too; it’s not casting aspersions on anyone’s culture. 

I’m a Maryland girl, but it wouldn’t surprise me if someone said they thought steaming crabs alive is barbaric. 🙄

[Bootsie]

After hearing for years that loquats were poisonous, I realized they weren't and that I could make delicious jam with the ones growing in my back yard.

[Storygirl]

5 hours ago, SusanC said:

I'm in the Midwest and have had one of the three trees I planted do really well. Yay! We have been getting fruits the last two weeks.

Ground cherries (physalis) seem to be relatively unknown.  The fruits look like tiny tomatillos. My great aunt showed up at my grandma's house with some she had found growing in a ditch. I saved some seeds and have kept a few in my garden for the last 20 years. Huh. Never did that math before.

 

Ground cherries are also called gooseberries. My grandfather's favorite dessert was gooseberry pie. Whenever he ate in a restaurant, he would ask if they had gooseberry pie, no matter whether it was on the menu or not. My mom made it for him once or twice that I can remember, and I didn't like it as a kid -- too tart for me. I've never heard anyone else mention gooseberry pie.

[Carol in Cal.]

I remembered some more.

Both of this I like if I don't think about what they actually are:  Blutwurst and Head Cheese.

And escargot is pretty good.

[Tanaqui]

Quote

Personally, I don't consume any of them. I think if we knew actual hunger I could convince myself to do so, but mostly I'm not interested.

 

You're missing out! Purslane and sorrel in particular are both delicious and nutritious. (And so spendy if you buy them at the supermarket!)

Edited September 19, 2020 by Tanaqui

[Rosie_0801]

5 hours ago, Lori D. said:

Pineapple guava -- the fruit, but also the flower petals are edible, which most people don't realize.

 

 

That's interesting! I've got one in my yard and don't like the fruit at all. Thank you!

[Shoeless]

7 hours ago, Elizabeth86 said:

My oldest ds used to eat the whole apple too, but not anymore.  My 2 year old was eating watermelon rind this year.  My kids are weird.

 

Pickled watermelon rind is good! My stepfather's grandmother used to make some every year.  I loved that stuff.  Wish I had her recipe for it!

[Spy Car]

Early in the lockdown--or what I thought was going to be a "lockdown"--we were eating lots and lots of dandelion greens from the yard (thanks to last winter's unusually generous rains). OK dandelions? No big deal.

But about the same time I determined to plant out some vegetable beds, and when I turned over the compost pile I found a boatload of big fat grubs. I imagined they might be delicious sauteed with garlic. Yum!

So I painstakingly gathered the grubs and put them in a bucket covered with soil and threw in some fresh kitchen waste so they could have a last meal.

The next day I went out to gather them up to make a nice meal, when my wife said she'd discovered a service called "Instacart."

Suddenly the grubs didn't seem so appealing. Kinda queasiness-making in fact. Missed my opportunity by one day. LOL.

Bill

 

 

 

 

Edited September 19, 2020 by Spy Car

[Laura Corin]

6 hours ago, Lady Marmalade said:

There's a lot of weeds that are edible.  Lamb's Quarters, Purslane, Sorrel, Burdock root, stinging nettle, and dandelion all come to mind as weeds that grow here that are edible.

Personally, I don't consume any of them. I think if we knew actual hunger I could convince myself to do so, but mostly I'm not interested.

Sorrel is good. It tastes citrussy. Nettles are okay but I don't bother. I've gathered young ground elder,  which apparently was brought to the UK for eating by the Romans  but is now a weed. Again, it was okay but time-consuming to gather. 

[Ausmumof3]

7 hours ago, Bootsie said:

After hearing for years that loquats were poisonous, I realized they weren't and that I could make delicious jam with the ones growing in my back yard.

I love loquats!  Just fresh.  They are so good.  We’ve tried to grow them but the kangaroos love the leaves for some reason and even with a fence around managed to destroy them.

[Elizabeth86]

9 hours ago, Margaret in CO said:

Garlic and wine. It's also great in chili. It can carry the same parasite that pork can, so must be thoroughly cooked. 

Ok, thanks.  I'll keep it mind if anymore comes my way.

[Elizabeth86]

8 hours ago, Storygirl said:

Ground cherries are also called gooseberries. My grandfather's favorite dessert was gooseberry pie. Whenever he ate in a restaurant, he would ask if they had gooseberry pie, no matter whether it was on the menu or not. My mom made it for him once or twice that I can remember, and I didn't like it as a kid -- too tart for me. I've never heard anyone else mention gooseberry pie.

I didn't realize that.  My dad mentioned eating gooseberries growing up and I had seen ground cherries and never knew what they were.

[Elizabeth86]

7 hours ago, MissLemon said:

 

Pickled watermelon rind is good! My stepfather's grandmother used to make some every year.  I loved that stuff.  Wish I had her recipe for it!

My grandma used to too.

[Miss Tick]

8 hours ago, Storygirl said:

Ground cherries are also called gooseberries. My grandfather's favorite dessert was gooseberry pie. Whenever he ate in a restaurant, he would ask if they had gooseberry pie, no matter whether it was on the menu or not. My mom made it for him once or twice that I can remember, and I didn't like it as a kid -- too tart for me. I've never heard anyone else mention gooseberry pie.

Gooseberries are a different, delicious berry. Gooseberries grow in clusters and have shiny, striped berries. Ground cherries are less of a shrub and have individual berries that each have a papery husk to be removed (like tomatillos). The biggest difference is that Ground cherries can be eaten straight off the plant while you are standing in the garden!

[Spy Car]

12 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

I love loquats!  Just fresh.  They are so good.  We’ve tried to grow them but the kangaroos love the leaves for some reason and even with a fence around managed to destroy them.

I love them too. Loquats grow well in my area and were planted somewhat frequently back when I was a child, so I'd raid trees (sometimes still do) as no one seems to eat them. Love them!

Bill

[Spy Car]

3 hours ago, Dreamergal said:

We eat a lot of organ meats and parts of the animal as our regular diet.

Paya or the hoof of the animal which in my case is usually a goat. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paya_(food)

Liver is a regular dish I grew up eating and still make. Goat liver in this case. We used to eat several other parts growing up like brain, spleen. It is more common to find different parts of the animal in an ethnic food market in my experience. 

 

When my wife and son go out of town, I'll boil up a bunch of hooves and tripe and make Menudo. Then I take some to my Menudo-loving neighbor lady. I love it. 

My son and I both enjoy liver (the dog too, his favorite. LOL).

I will admit that i've never had brains cooked in a way I've found delicious.

Bill

 

ETA. Looking at the Paya photo you linked is causing me to drool. LOL.

 

Edited September 20, 2020 by Spy Car

[Laura Corin]

9 hours ago, Dreamergal said:

We eat a lot of organ meats and parts of the animal as our regular diet.

Paya or the hoof of the animal which in my case is usually a goat. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paya_(food)

Liver is a regular dish I grew up eating and still make. Goat liver in this case. We used to eat several other parts growing up like brain, spleen. It is more common to find different parts of the animal in an ethnic food market in my experience. 

 

I quite like heart. Kidneys are good and chicken livers. I've given up cooking them though because Husband is not keen.

[Excelsior! Academy]

On 9/18/2020 at 4:55 PM, Elizabeth86 said:

Also poke salad or poke weed I guess. From my understanding you have to eat it when it's small and young. 

Make sure to prepare poke properly.  We had poke in our garden and my boys and husband ate it, thinking it was another plant.  My boys got very ill and after a call to poison control, E.R. visit and follow up from poison control we learned our lesson.

[Tanaqui]

3 minutes ago, Excelsior! Academy said:

Make sure to prepare poke properly.  We had poke in our garden and my boys and husband ate it, thinking it was another plant.  My boys got very ill and after a call to poison control, E.R. visit and follow up from poison control we learned our lesson.

 

Boil the young leaves in several changes of water. The berries are not edible. (But they do, iirc, make a nice ink.)