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Calaloo
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cab



Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

PostPosted: Mon Dec 12, 05 8:33 pm    Post subject: Calaloo Reply with quote
    

Just caught a few moments of Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall on the telly, he was talking to a bloke from the Caribbean about calaloo. Looked a lot like an amaranth. Is it one? What's it like to grow and eat?

Cheers,

Cab. [/code]

sean
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42207
Location: North Devon
PostPosted: Mon Dec 12, 05 9:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

According to the Oxford Companion to Food, callaloo is the name given to various green leaves used to make the soup of the same name, these include:
Taro - Colocasia esculenta
Tannia - Xanthosoma brasiliense
Amaranth - Amaranthus spinosus and A. flavus
Pokeweed - Phytolacca octandra
Branched callaloo - Solanum nodiflorum

I don't know anything about them, but it gives you some terms to stick into Google.

Bugs



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

PostPosted: Wed Dec 14, 05 12:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

sean wrote:
Branched callaloo - Solanum nodiflorum


At first glances that says poisonous to me...

Never tried it but have often seen it on the menu of cafes and in shops in tins; I think it is often served as a green too?

sean
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42207
Location: North Devon
PostPosted: Wed Dec 14, 05 12:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Bugs wrote:
sean wrote:
Branched callaloo - Solanum nodiflorum


At first glances that says poisonous to me...


The Oxford Companion to Food did say that that was the least commonly used, maybe that's why...

judith



Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire
PostPosted: Thu Dec 15, 05 9:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

My sister used to eat callaloo when she lived in Trinidad. Said it was something of an acquired taste - very gloopy and glutinous, like a spinach crossed with okra.

Mat S



Joined: 07 Nov 2004
Posts: 282
Location: Leicester
PostPosted: Thu Dec 15, 05 1:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

The HFW programme gave the impression that calallo is a single type of vegetable like carrot or spinach. Conversation with a Carribean mate says that it is a mix of various vegetables and some herbs & spices.

Just read the itchy potato thread - he also said potato leaves are edible. I thought they were poisonous?

hils



Joined: 08 Mar 2005
Posts: 568
Location: Nottingham
PostPosted: Thu Dec 15, 05 8:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

My allotment neighbour grows LOADS of it. You probably saw him on BBC Gardeners world in the Nottingham St Anns allotments. He uses it like a cabbage - either steaming or boiling. Has also said he's used it like a spinach too.

mochyn



Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 24585
Location: mid-Wales
PostPosted: Fri Dec 16, 05 9:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I used to buy it in tins in London to eat with salt fish & ackee. Yep, glutinous, spinachy, dark green...

cab



Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

PostPosted: Fri Dec 16, 05 9:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

hils wrote:
My allotment neighbour grows LOADS of it. You probably saw him on BBC Gardeners world in the Nottingham St Anns allotments. He uses it like a cabbage - either steaming or boiling. Has also said he's used it like a spinach too.


Does he save his own seed? Can you get some? And what do you want to swap for it?

hils



Joined: 08 Mar 2005
Posts: 568
Location: Nottingham
PostPosted: Fri Dec 16, 05 6:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

cab wrote:
hils wrote:
My allotment neighbour grows LOADS of it. You probably saw him on BBC Gardeners world in the Nottingham St Anns allotments. He uses it like a cabbage - either steaming or boiling. Has also said he's used it like a spinach too.


Does he save his own seed? Can you get some? And what do you want to swap for it?


I'll see what I can do...

Leonie



Joined: 13 Sep 2005
Posts: 731
Location: West Sussex
PostPosted: Sun Dec 18, 05 6:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Mat S wrote:
he also said potato leaves are edible. I thought they were poisonous?


So did I, I thought all green parts of the potato plant are poisonous, including green tubers. I think the flowers are edible though.

Bugs



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

PostPosted: Mon Dec 19, 05 8:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I've always been under the impression all parts of the potato are poisonous apart from the white (or red or blue!) tubers. The berries are definitely poisonous, so I'd be surprised if the flowers were edible...I'm not going to try them any time soon

Millymollymandy



Joined: 23 Sep 2005
Posts: 187
Location: Brittany, France
PostPosted: Mon Dec 19, 05 12:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I tried it in a West Indian restaurant and it was absolutely delicious!

DavidW



Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 31
Location: South Wales
PostPosted: Wed Dec 21, 05 8:08 pm    Post subject: Callaloo Seeds Reply with quote
    

Hi,
I’m interested in growing the outdoor variety of Callaloo does anyone know where I could buy some seeds.

Thanks
David

cab



Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

PostPosted: Thu Dec 22, 05 1:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I haven't bought any yet, but these guys seem to have an amaranth they're referring to as calaloo:

https://www.seeds-by-size.co.uk/orveg.htm

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