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Chica-del-yermo
02-09-2008, 01:55 PM
Close to where i live there is an abundance of cattail. I have eaten it before. Just wondering if anyone has a favorite way to cook/eat it.

Rick
02-09-2008, 02:44 PM
Gosh. Where do you want to start? In early spring you can pull up the young shoots, peel them and eat them raw or cook them like asparagus. In the summer, the flower spikes are coated in a yellow pollen. You can shake the pollen in a bag, strain it and mix it half and half with flour. Lots of protein in the pollen. Little horned shaped spikes begin to grow from the roots in the summer and they last all through the winter. You can boil them and serve them with butter. In the fall, you can boil the flower spikes, butter them and eat them like corn on the cob.

RobertRogers
02-09-2008, 03:41 PM
Gosh. Where do you want to start? In early spring you can pull up the young shoots, peel them and eat them raw or cook them like asparagus. In the summer, the flower spikes are coated in a yellow pollen. You can shake the pollen in a bag, strain it and mix it half and half with flour. Lots of protein in the pollen. Little horned shaped spikes begin to grow from the roots in the summer and they last all through the winter. You can boil them and serve them with butter. In the fall, you can boil the flower spikes, butter them and eat them like corn on the cob.

This is one great plant for our uses.

WildGoth
02-09-2008, 04:51 PM
it is one of the best survival plants there is a survivalist's best friend wish we had some around here

Rokas
07-17-2008, 03:26 AM
Recently I gathered some cattails and tried to eat them after boiling... I cut of that woody stem and left that white material. Then put it in a pot and boiled. When I tried to chew it it seemed that I was chewing wood... taste was like salty wood... should it taste like this or I made something wrong? BTW roots are same taste as the stem near the roots..

Rick
07-17-2008, 06:11 AM
Everything you ever wanted to know about cattails.

http://wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Cattails.html

crashdive123
07-17-2008, 03:57 PM
Nice link on cattails. Thanks.

Dennis K.
07-17-2008, 04:31 PM
Excellent link - Thanks.

skunkkiller
07-17-2008, 04:41 PM
that is a good link .

Chris
07-17-2008, 05:10 PM
Who wants to add it to the new database huhhuh?

flandersander
07-17-2008, 05:19 PM
so just scrape off the slime and chow down? I am gunna try this right now. cattails are very common around here.

crashdive123
07-17-2008, 05:22 PM
Be careful - you don't want to spoil your appetite before dinner.

flandersander
07-17-2008, 05:40 PM
Speaking of that, I made a roast in a pit full of hot rocks, hope it turns out...

Edz
10-12-2008, 04:04 PM
Everything you ever wanted to know about cattails.

http://wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Cattails.html

Steve is a real character! Years ago I used to run a program through the Sierra club and took many groups of kids out on foraging trips with Steve. he's a character too!
His apartment in NYC is full of edibles gathered throughout the city and woods north and west of the city. I learned a lot from the man. Haven't seen him in about 15 years though. One of these days I'm going to get around to buying some of his videos. You can find vids of him on youtube too...

edz