Food Without Farming
(Page 3 of 6)
July/August 1972
By James E. Churchill
A slightly less healthful but nevertheless safe method of keeping asparagus is to cure it in salt. This is done by washing the freshly picked stalks very well and then placing them in a stone crock, alternating layers of asparagus—sliced lengthwisewith layers of salt. The top layer should be salt. This mixture is allowed to set for 24 hours by which time it should've made enough brine to cover itself. If it hasn't, top off the remaining asparagus with a brine made of one part salt and eight parts ester.
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Several days later-when the bubbles have quit rising from this mixture-tap on the sides of the crock. If no bubbles are dislodged by the disturbance, fermentation has probably ceased. Melt paraffin and float it on top of the liquid to make a seal and store the crock in a cool place until you're ready to eat the contents. Don't use a product like this exclusively, however, since salt is certainly not a healthful product when consumed in large quantities.
Even when you use salted vegetables sparingly you'll want to boil them in two different waters for five minutes each time. If the vegetables give off any objectionable odors during this boiling period, discard them since they could cause food poisoning.
The stalks of the giant bulrush (Scirpus validus) can also be harvested in the summer. This tall, round-stemmed plant grows in the shallow water of marshes, lakes and rivers, usually in thick colonies since—unlike the wild asparagus—it doesn't seem to like the shading and competition of other plants.
Giant bulrush stems—which sometimes reach a height of six feet—look almost exactly like huge, tapered onion tops. Even when broken open, the stem—sort of off-white and juicy inside—resembles an onion. This is where the resemblance stops, however, since the taste of the bulrush stem is insipid or just slightly "green" when raw. Cooked though, it has a fine taste . . . especially the tender base of the stem.
It's said that the poor of the English countryside, especially those living near saltwater bays, once used the stem bases of the saltwater bulrush (Scirpus maritimus) as a vegetable whenever they could get it. Legend has it that a tribe of fair-skinned, blond-haired, blue-eyed giants who lived among the rocks and crags of the seacoast near Land's End and ate bulrush and clams for their main meals was so fierce that no ship or army would dare enter their lair.
Just how the giants cooked their bulrush is not known but I gather, prepare and cook mine by first feeling my way down the plant's stem until I come to the part where the sides of the stalk will break inward. This is usually where the tender part commences and the younger the plant the more of the stem that'll be edible. Break the stalk off there and cut it off again just above the roots (where the stalk will also start to break inward).
The edible part of a bulrush stem is usually about four to six inches long. It can be cut into pieces and steamed, boiled or sautéed in vegetable oil. There's nothing wrong with eating the stalk raw either if the water in which it grows is clean.
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