It's ramp season in West Virginia.



And, there are a number of ways to celebrate: foraging, enjoying ramperoni rolls or attending The Wild Ramp's Stinkfest. 



"One of The Wild Ramp’s signature annual events, Stinkfest is a celebration of the market’s namesake, Allium tricoccum, commonly known as a ramp or wild leek. This day-long festival will feature ramp dishes from The Wild Ramp Harvest Kitchen as well as other local food businesses. There will also be artisan and produce vendors, music and kid’s activities. Admission is free."



B Sweet Cookie Creations - I grabbed a cookie from this little stand!



A beautiful little flower that was tasty, too. 



Midnight Cookie Society - I had never heard of them, but when I saw a s'mores cookie, I knew I had to have it.
  

I love that these cookies are huge and soft - I even didn't mind the chocolate inside because it was milk chocolate and not bitter.



Stringtown Farm - These folks had crafts and candies. 
  

On the craft side, I went for a ramp keychain. On the candy side, I got this milk chocolate covered peanut bark that I devoured. 



We B Fryin Snacks -  These are like pork rinds but healthier. I actually don't love pork rinds, but I enjoyed the flavor of these. 



They also have cinnamon snacks, and they had ramp snacks - but I had already purchased my bbq ones before I saw those. 



Finally, Cabin Cakes & Candies - this little mini cake. I haven't had a chance to try it yet. Did you find any new snacks or finds at the festival? 

Lost Creek Farm recently produced a subscription box: Farm & Forage Provisions Box.

Experience the Abundance of Appalachia: When you subscribe to the Farm and Forage Provisions Box, you’ll experience story-rich mountain cuisine at home with a quarterly selection of seasonal products from the Lost Creek Farm Kitchen. The box will feature a rotating selection of pantry items and homemade snacks from storied recipes, as well as original artwork and farmer’s-and-forager’s-choice special surprises. The items are made from ingredients grown or foraged at Lost Creek Farm and other small family-owned farms in the community. This experience from Lost Creek Farm is exclusive to our Table22 members.



Sample box may include:

-Lost Creek Farm’s storied communion wafers
-Shelf-stable seasonal items – WV-grown cornmeal, dried heritage apples, and more
-Sweet treats from Lost Creek Farm’s collection of family recipes – black-walnut brittle, sorghum cookies, and more
-Seasonal fruit spread or sweet syrup – Lost Creek Farm’s Bourbon-sage apple butter, shagbark hickory syrup, sassafras syrup, and more
-Spice rubs or pickling mixes blended by hand in the Lost Creek Farm kitchen
-A pack of Mike’s own original block-print greeting cards featuring seasonally-inspired, hand-carved designs

All Lost Creek Farm members also receive:
-A Quarterly Unboxing Video featuring the stories behind the Farm and Forage Provisions and recipe ideas for items in the box
-First to know about future membership offerings
  

This box is seasonal, so just four times a year. And it focuses on great things coming from the farm. It is bit on the pricey end, at $125. 



This box contained Momaw Betty's Communion Wafers, Rosemary-Sumac Shortbreads, Shagbark Hickory Sweet Syrup, Wild Allium Powder, Hand-Printed Blockprint Notecards, Pickled Beet Spices, Heirloom Seeds, and Aunt Floda's Dumpling Mix. 

I've already dug into the communion wafters and shortbreads, but I'm going to need to do a bit more research on the spices and dumpling mix. Suggestions? Let me know! 

My latest column for the Charleston Gazette-Mail:

“Poke is undoubtedly Appalachia’s most popular, most available, and most eaten wild potherb,” writes Mark F. Sohn in his book “Appalachian Home Cooking: History, Culture, and Recipes.”

There’s just one problem: It’s poisonous.

The perennial weed has tall, towering stalks with tints of magenta, bright green leaves and dark purple berries. And, every single part - especially the root - is toxic.

But that didn’t stop Appalachians from being resourceful with this plentiful green, and through what was likely a lot of trial and error, creating an edible dish without falling ill.

How did they do that? By cooking the Phytolacca americana leaves into a dish we know as “poke sallet” – or sometimes “polk salad,” “poke sally” or “poke salet.”

*PLEASE NOTE: I do not encourage anyone from preparing pokeweed unless you know how and are confident in your ability. This column is not intended to serve as a guide in preparing pokeweed but rather is shared to document the cultural significance of the food.

Poke sallet is made only using the leaves of young, spring plants. Pokeweed becomes more toxic as it gets older, and its leaves are the least toxic part of the plant. Those leaves are then boiled with fresh water for 20 minutes at least three different times to remove the toxins.

It may seem like quite the chore to prepare, but in a time where foraging was crucial to survival and the repercussions of not cooking poke sallet correctly include severe stomach cramps, rapid heartbeat, vomiting, diarrhea, difficulty breathing and death, the work to prepare poke sallet was necessary.

Once the pokeweed has been properly prepared, poke sallet is often pan-fried with bacon grease, onion and salt and pepper. It can be treated like many other greens - by adding garlic, chili flakes, eggs, cream or served in pasta, quiche or dip. It can be canned and pickled. And, it even contains protein, and is a rich source of vitamin A, vitamin B2, vitamin C, vitamin K, and manganese.

In addition to its culinary uses, pokeweed has been used in alternative medicine and the berries of the plant for cosmetics. Queen of Appalachia Dolly Parton wrote in her memoir, “Dream More,” that as a kid, she “used red pokeberries for lipstick and a burnt matchstick for eyeliner.” Again, poke berries are toxic.

Poke isn’t the only plant that has poisonous parts, though. It joins the likes of rhubarb leaves, apple seeds, cherry pits, nutmeg, and raw cashews. And while reports are mixed on if and when poke has caused fatalities in modern times, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

While poke sallet isn’t as common as it once was - likely due to the labor involved and availability of other alternatives - it can still serve as this special connection to the land and a testament to the inventiveness of those who occupied these grounds before us.

As for me, I need to make that connection so I can try my first bite of poke - poison-free.

Have you prepared pokeweed sallet? What’s your favorite way of using the green weed?

RECIPE: Poke Sallet Squares
As someone who second-guesses myself when foraging for morels or ramps, I am not willing to take my life into my own hands by finding and cooking pokeweed. I’ll leave it to the experts who know what to look for and know how to not poison themselves. I recommend you do the same.
So, while searching for recipes, I came across the University of Kentucky Harlan County Extension Office’s “Poke Sallet Recipes from Past Poke Cook-Offs,” which can be found here: https://bit.ly/3xwTUP5. They have a number of different recipes from over the years that utilize pokeweed in myriad ways. The “Poke Sallet Squares” caught my attention for something I’d like to try one day.

Ingredients:

½ cup cooked poke Sallet

1 cup cooked rice

¼ cup sliced green onions

1 cup (4oz) shredded Swiss cheese

1 (10 ¾ oz) can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon dried basil

1/8 teaspoon dried oregano

¼ cup breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon margarine melted


Instructions:

Drain poke well, pressing between layer of paper towels, chop. Combine poke and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl; set aside. Combine mushroom soup and next 5 ingredients; add to poke mixture, stirring well. Spoon into a lightly greased baking dish. Combine breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, and melted butter, sprinkle over poke mixture. Bake at 325° for 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting into squares; serve immediately.

If there's a time to indulge in seafood, it's at the beach. In this case, Myrtle Beach.



While walking along the beach, I stopped at Wicked Tuna, a sushi grille and bar. I sat at the bar, which has a great view of the ocean. It was light and breezy. The menu has salads, sandwiches and sushi - all looked tasty, really. 



As per usual when I go on vacation, I had been eating my way through the city the whole day, so I really wasn't looking for anything heavy. But there were a ton of things I wanted to try between the lobster roll, maki rolls and even the beet salad. 



Instead, I opted for a simple shrimp cocktail. A few jumbo shrimp were laid atop ice and served with a cocktail sauce. I really enjoy shrimp. Sometimes, though, it can be not the freshest at the grocery store, and a weird texture can totally ruin it. But these? They were perfect. They are fresh, the texture is firm, there's no sliminess or rubberiness or fishiness. They are slightly sweet, have a nice little snap when you bite in, and the cocktail - I love horseradish. It's my favorite spicy flavor, and there was plenty here. 



Grade: A

One of the benefits of eating at the beach is the bountiful seafood available. In Myrtle Beach, there are quite a few places, but one specific style kept coming up: Calabash.



"Calabash-style seafood is lightly breaded and fried and typically served buffet style. The seafood is always accompanied with the ever popular side dish-hushpuppies. Corn meal is used instead of flour to give the seafood a light coating. The seafood is then fried in hot oil until it becomes golden brown."



There were two that kept coming up in my search: 
The Original Benjamin's Calabash Seafood: Myrtle Beach Buffet and Captain Benjamin's Calabash Seafood Buffet. I went with the former just because I saw they were takeout friendly. And during the midst of COVID, I was not trying to sit in a buffet with a ton of folks.



When I arrived, I told them I wanted to do takeout, and they handed me a bunch of boxes to head to the buffet and gather whatever I wanted. The buffet was huge, with multiple islands, stations and options. The buffet has nearly 200 items, like: 



Crab Legs
Blackened Salmon
Crab Cakes
Oyster Rockefeller
Steamed Oysters*
Scallop Cakes
Stuffed Flounder
Stuffed Shrimp
Seafood Special
Parmesan Tilapia
Shrimp Fried Rice
Steamed Clams
Cajun Crab Legs
Shrimp Scampi
Craw Daddy’s
Clam Strips
Seafood Wontons
Jumbo Shrimp
Fried Flounder
Fried Scallops
Blue Crabs*



Peel & Eat Shrimp
Clam Bake
Coconut Shrimp
Fried Oysters
Fried Calamari
Carved Ham
Ribeye Steak
Baked Chicken
Ribs
Barbeque
Fried Chicken
Chicken Tenders
Pepper Steak
Macaroni & Cheese
Mashed Potatoes
Yeast Rolls
Hushpuppies
Zucchini & Squash
Green Beans
Asparagus
Corn on the Cob
Shrimp & Grits
Fresh Salad Bar
Kickin’ Crab Bisque



Clam Chowder
Vegetable Soup
Potatoes Au gratin
Steamed Rice
Tomato Pie
Red Potatoes
Deviled Eggs
Cole Slaw
Sweet Potatoes
Soft Serve Ice Cream
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ranger Cookies
Brownies
Banana Pudding
Cheesecake
Key Lime Shots
Red Velvet Cake
Carrot Cake
Oreo Delight
Chocolate Pudding
Lemon Pound Cake
Strawberry Cake
Fresh Fruit
Cupcakes
Chocolate Truffles
Peach Cobbler
Coconut Cake



Everything is blurry because I was juggling all these boxes and the lighting is pretty low, so apologies. But, once I took all my goodies back to the hotel, I was able to see what all I scavenged.



First of all, they do supply a whole order of hushpuppies, which could be a meal in and of themselves. I like mine to have a hint of sweetness, but these were not bad.



Look at that spread. It's just literally a little bit of everything. The appeal of this place is the sheer amount of food. It's insane. I took a bite or two of each thing before retiring. It was all decent. Nothing was mind-blowingly delicious, but nothing was bad. Lots of fried seafood, which was all fine. Plus, perks for such a good variety. 



Grade: B