There are Two Types of Pokeweed

There are two types of Pokeweed known of in America. Phytolacca americana var. rigida (formally known as Phytolacca rigida) and Phytolacca americana look very similar, yet there are subtle differences. What if I told you some of the photos in this post show look a-likes that aren’t poke weed? Can you spot the imposter photos? Not knowing what they look like, could be a fatal mistake. Knowing what they look like can still be fatal.

So why did Appalachians eat and still chose eat this? The original reason was to avoid starvation after a long winter. Now, it’s tradition. But I won’t be showing people how to make it on my website. Because not everyone can tell the difference between poke even in person. Not everyone knows there are two known varieties with different leave structures. And not many know the leaves can be quite different looking on smaller plants as opposed to larger plants.

When is Pokeweed Safe for Eating?

When is it safe to eat poke salet? The short answer is never. American Pokeweed (Phytolacca Americana) is a poisonous plant. Every single part of the plant from leaves to roots including the berries are toxic. Handling it with bare hands can even be risky as they learn more about the toxic effects. The compounds that make this plant dangerous can be absorbs through the skin.

Even when harvested properly, the toxins cannot be cooked, boiled, fried or baked out. They are always present. The toxins are just in smaller quantities due to the size and time of harvest. We strongly advise never eating this plant.

We will not share a recipe on this site due to the fact it is very dangerous to consume if prepared improperly. Even properly prepared, you are taking a serious risk by ingesting American Pokeweed. Let’s look at this plant further and why it was used heavy in the Appalachian diet up until recent years.

Picking Poisonous Poke Properly

Pokeweed should be treated with great respect. Growing up with multiple generations living up a holler, we learned the old ways of Appalachian culture. A mess of poke was one of our great grandmother’s favorite things to make in the spring. If prepared correctly, it can sustain you as it is one of the first greens after harsh mountain winters. If done wrong, it will be your last meal. You don’t want to mess around with a mess of poke salet. Now we are starting to realize why the median lifespan was late 20s for a long time.

Women and children would forage and cook these greens to help with pain relief, provide nutrition to their families and would grow the larger plants for dyes and several medicinal purposes. Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) was thought to be a miracle cure for just about all that ails you. One claim was it would deworm the gut which was a common issue with early generations in this country.

American Pokeweed contains several compounds within the plant that are toxic to humans, pets and most wildlife. To name a few: phytolaccatoxin, phytolaccine and phytolaccigenin. You can read more about it here. When you pick a plant for consumption, it is critical to know when and what to pick. It’s all about the timing and age.

The young plants are used in cooking as they have less toxic compounds due to their size. However, there is a caveat to picking small plants. If there are red stems, the plant is more mature than you realize and even under the recommended height for harvesting, it will be more toxic and dangerous to eat. There is a skill to harvesting poke and you need someone that knows what they are doing show you how in person. Don’t watch some random videos online and trust them. After all, people due all kinds of stupid things and recommend ridiculous recipes just for the views.

Salet, Salat, Sallet, or Salad: Many Names for a Deadly Mess of Greens

Why are there so many different names for this mess of greens? Poke salet refers to cooked greens. Many have mistakenly heard “salet” as “salad” due to the soft pronunciations of the letter t within the Appalachian vernacular. Over the years people have spelled salet a variety of ways as well.

There is even a joke saying that the further the cook pronounces or spells from the original, the more likely you are to get sick or die from eating their dish. However you refer to a mess of poke, it’s wise to follow your ancestors careful advice on how to prepare and cook this crop.

It is a skill that is forgotten when it used to be very well known. You used to be able to purchase poke salet in the canned foods isle at your local grocer. This was one of the safest way for those without the skill of harvesting to consume pokeweed. In fact, Allen’s Canning produced poke salet up until 2000 when it made its last can. They were a small canning company started in the 20s that you were able to find all kinds of old-fashioned vegetables for an affordable price. If you looked at the cans label, it gave you a clue on how to properly pick this plant.

Side Effects of American Pokeweed

This wasn’t a luxury hipster crop. This was a crop of necessity. This crop could both save your life but also kill you. Only careful preparation of poke makes it even remotely safe to consume. Even then, you are taking a risk. Some will have horrible reactions to this plant with one small bite or touch. Horrible skin rashes, severe stomach upset, seizures, tremors, incontinence, explosive diarrhea, etc.

As a result, old timers often called poke the plant that would clean your innards from stem to stern. Some of the old folk would even eat a berry a day. Some would eat the stalks like okra. Many became violently ill as a result.

Eating a berry promote chills, sweats, fevers, diarrhea and vomiting. They claimed eating the poisonous berries made them strong and immune from things like the flu. Children and adults alike have eaten the beautiful dark red berries and not made it. As little as a 3 – 10 can be fatal to humans of any size. Others have mistaken it for wild turnips and passed away within an hour of ingestion. This is not a plant to read the comments on how so and so’s entire family eats it and are 120 years old with perfect health. If you learn nothing else about poke salet, remember raw is deadly.

The sap inside the plant and even handling the plant can be absorbed into the skin and cause dermatitis. It’s also known to have substances that causes cell division, damages chromosomes and leads to blood abnormalities. What does this mean? Basically, the plant is a well known carcinogenic. So if you don’t die from immediate indigestion of poorly prepared poke sallet, you will over time be exposed to cancer causing substances. Sounds like a great meal, doesn’t it?

American Pokeweed is also toxic to most pets, mammals and wildlife. You don’t want this stuff around your beloved labrador that eats everything or you horse that likes to graze in the meadows. Birds seem to be the only animal so far immune to them and actually relish eating and spreading this toxic plant across their habitats.

Pokeweed is a very interesting plant. It can grow to over 10′ tall, take on the appearance of a small tree, has beautiful fragrant flowers in late June and bright reddish purple berries in the early fall. The dye from the fruit is a beautiful reddish purple. As it ages, the green stalk takes on a rhubarb red. If it weren’t a plant trying to kill you from stem to stern, I’d say enjoy the foliage and grow it as an ornamental.

However, the taller it gets, the more toxic it gets. And the harder it is to get rid of as the tap root gets larger than a basketball. And the berries from a mature plant spreads tens of thousands of seeds throughout your neighborhood. It’s a very prolific deadly plant.

Preparing Poke Salet Safely Takes Serious Skill

I will not be sharing with you the exact recipe as don’t want to cause people to become ill. Again. Do not eat this poisonous plant. So why am I even writing this? Because so many out there are giving horrifying advice on how to pick and prepare pokeweed.

Some will tell you to barely boil it or saute it. Others say fry it. Worse yet, some tell you to eat it raw. Eating pokeweed raw is a sure way to end your life. Don’t do it. It’s a horribly, painful way to go.

If someone ever calls it “poke salad” and says it’s safe to eat it raw, blanched or fried without parboiling, run away. These methods will result in sending you to an early grave, calling poison control or visiting the emergency room.

If you’ve never made poke salet, find someone that knows what they are doing and only eat it if they take a bite first. This all takes precise timing and skill. Skill you shouldn’t learn from some stranger online. If you are going to risk your life, at least have someone you trust show you how to prepare poke properly.

For instance, it is best to pick a plant under one foot tall and remove all the stems. But even that isn’t foolproof. For instance, regardless of size, the stalks should never, ever, ever be red in color. Red means the plant is mature and more toxins are present. There is a phrase we were taught “red means dead.”

Once properly picked, it’s time to bring the young poke leaves slow boil several times. You keep it on the heat for a while, drain, rinse with cool water and repeat this process one or two more times or until the leaves turn a dark brown green. You are looking for mushy wilted leaves. Again, the timing and amount of water is critical.

At that point, it’s time to fry it in lard and onions. It will remind you of really well done fried spinach. The stalks tastes similar to okra or asparagus. A poisonous batch of these vegetables. Seriously, do yourself and body a favor. Eat one of the many safe and better tasting vegetables instead of pokeweed.

Honestly, as Appalachian and remembering my great-grandma fixing a mess of poke for us as kids, I will still discourage you from eating pokeweed. It’s not the flavor of poke you all would like. It’s actually a very bland and not pleasant tasting plant on its own. It tastes and smells like cooked weeds. It’s the lard and bacon flavoring that people enjoy. Seriously, you can make cardboard taste delicious by frying in bacon grease. So why risk it? Especially when there are much safer, more pleasant vegetables available for us today.

Why chance eating something that can give you a massive stomach ailment or even death that really doesn’t taste any better than the dozens of greens out there? And if you still chose to ignore this advice? Make sure to have the number for poison control nearby. You’re likely going to need it if you don’t properly pick and prepare pokeweed.

Folklore surrounds this plant heavily and likely why people still insist on eating this deadly creation. As much as I love the Appalachian culture, we can be stubborn at times. We tend to not listen when things change as we are slow to trust outsiders and science. But coming from a fellow Applachian to another: please think twice. Leave this plant to the birds and go enjoy a nice mess of mustard greens instead.