Submitted 3 weeks ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to science_memes@mander.xyz
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Some local plants might be edible and even delicious, but they are either way to costly to grow or harvest, or they are nigh impossible to preserve.
Pearl Onions are a borderline case, for example. Between harvest and sitting in the pickling juice they only have a few hours (3-6, IIRC), or they are a case for the compost heap.
Some are acquired tastes like e.g. turnip tops. You could probably harvest tons of them, but there is no real market for it.
The staple foods we’ve chosen to cultivate are all energy dense. Overheard a client talking to another guy he hadn’t seen in years, “Yeah, got diabetes. Can’t eat any white foods. :(”
That really got me thinking. Rice, potatoes, wheat and corn. The core desirability is energy.
Add something like beans to fix nitrogen and add missing nutrients, you’re all set.
Here I go thinking about the three sisters again.
If the word “prefer” is in this meme, we might need another pass for tone.
I had native persimmons for the first time today! In Virginia.
i tried to use corn syrup as a vegan honey substitute for a glaze of spiced nuts for roasted carrots and let me tell you that corn taste is a bit off and I really should have just like idk made a simple syrup with sugar or something
i wish vegans would just eat honey it’s just bees I didn’t vote to consider bugs animals (but even though I disagree i’m not gonna feed people honey like the cooks I work with who sometimes “forget” it isn’t vegan)
Maple syrup could have worked. But yeah, it’s often also worth changing up plans, like maybe just roast the nuts as well and put them on top with some chives or balsamico creme for the looks. Of course, I don’t know what kind of constraints you’re working with, though…
I work at a private college and i’m not in a management position so I don’t do any ordering and am constrained by budget but everyone loves, respects and fears my powerful ability to cook so I can pretty much freestyle dishes however I want to as long as i’m getting the food out on time and it tastes good
I haven’t asked about honey substitutes yet but I’ve recently gotten them to try a vegan chicken stock that has proven really adequate for adding a lot of flavor to risotto or fake chicken dishes, and i just got them to try a different vegan mozzarella that turned out to be better than the sysco brand shit they were getting
Can anyone recommend anything to watch out for in BCs lower mainland? (Climate similar to Seattle)
Well, there’s blackberries. And if you look over there, you’ll see…huh, I guess that’s covered by blackberries now too.
My neighbor got the brillant idea to plant blackberries and raspberries in their garden
Containment has been a decade long, endless fight. You think you got rid of it all? There’s literally not a bramble in sight? Hahahahahahahaha no.
Getting an allotment, so soon I will be able to grow things I don’t normally eat because they are expensive or aren’t sold in shops here.
Pretty sure it’s lack of cultivation and selective breading. That usually takes a couple of human lifespans (even of you’re born into a family with the land/tools to do it).
PSA: serviceberry is a very very very common decorative hedge, the berries are extremely tasty.
It absolutely baffles me how no one is growing them commercially to sell in grocery stores, they’re clearly grown commercially to some degree for use in juices and stuff, but i guess selling to individuals is just a step too far? It’s not like they’re even remotely difficult to grow or harvest…
Dave@lemmy.nz 3 weeks ago
Do people (in general) really only eat 100 different plants? I feel like that number must be too low. Surely if you listed out all the plant foods that people consider “normal”, there would easily be more than 100.
Agent641@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Might be considering all Brassica as one.
AceOnTrack@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
Depends if you count spices I guess but most people only consume like a handful of different veggies all year long
Dave@lemmy.nz 2 weeks ago
I’m tempted to start a list. Sure, the majority of our food will be a handful of staples, but I feel like the average person from a rich country must eat quite a variety between seasonal variations of the food they eat at home, eating out, eating at a friends place, fast food, slow food, etc.
If I wrote a list, I think I would find over 100 different plants in the last year. If I have take out dumplings, I’d probably be eating onion, garlic, a couple of kinds of cabbage, soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper, carrot, ginger, maybe more.
It might be a shorter list without the flavourings but I still think I’d hit 100.