Posted: Mon Dec 12, 05 8:33 pm Post subject: Calaloo
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
Posted: Mon Dec 12, 05 9:46 pm Post subject:
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.
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
Posted: Wed Dec 14, 05 12:16 pm Post subject:
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
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 05 9:05 am Post subject:
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
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 05 1:02 pm Post subject:
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
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 05 8:10 pm Post subject:
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
Posted: Fri Dec 16, 05 9:35 am Post subject:
I used to buy it in tins in London to eat with salt fish & ackee. Yep, glutinous, spinachy, dark green...
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
Posted: Fri Dec 16, 05 6:17 pm Post subject:
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
Posted: Sun Dec 18, 05 6:30 pm Post subject:
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.
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
Posted: Mon Dec 19, 05 12:21 pm Post subject:
I tried it in a West Indian restaurant and it was absolutely delicious!
DavidW
Joined: 21 Dec 2004 Posts: 31 Location: South Wales
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 05 8:08 pm Post subject: Callaloo Seeds
Hi,
I’m interested in growing the outdoor variety of Callaloo does anyone know where I could buy some seeds.