Back from vacation.  Thanks to Dave Karas for sending list
guidelines.

This morning I visited a friend who is a used book dealer and a
naturalist.  I asked him about purslane, and he said, "Let's go
outside and find some."  Sure enough, it took only about 15
seconds to find some purslane growing out of the cracks between
bricks in his walk.

We went back into the bookstore and he secured a copy of the old
Euell Gibbons classic,_Stalking the Wild Asparagus_.  This book
has a chapter on purslane.  When it was published, I don't think
anybody knew about the omega-3 fats or their importance to
health.

According to Gibbons, purslane "originated" in India, but now
grows all around the world: "In America it has found a congenial
home, being found from the Atlantic to the Pacific,  and from far
up in Canada to Tierra del Fuego."

Gibbons says the best way to harvest purslane is to
pinch off the leafy tips.  This is because they grow back almost
immediately (some say overnight), so a few plants can furnish a
lot of edible purslane.

He also give some recipes.  It can be eaten raw, as a salad
vegetable, or boiled.  He suggests adding a quart of purslane
tips to bacon when it is about finished cooking, mixing it in
with the bacon fat and letting it cook for a few more minutes.
Then season with salt or vinegar, for those who are willing to
use these ingredients.

Native Americans of the southwest also gathered purslane seed and
ground it to make a flour.  The process sounds pretty laborious,
though.

Todd Moody
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Todd Moody
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