Re: Purslane/Portulaca oleracea

Hi Deborah,

I cannot give you an exact recipe as I am not that sort of cook!
I would think of purslane as an alternative to okra and use it in a similar way. When cooked it tends to produce a gelatinous thickening. Should be great for a gumbo.
In stews, I usually add it perhaps 10-15 minutes before the end (leaves and stalks chopped). I would use it in vegetable soups perhaps with onion, garlic, potatoes and carrots. How much do I use...."a good bunch" !!
In the Alentejo, the region of Portugal to the north of me, they add a creme/cottage cheese to the soup. 

Experiment and enjoy!
Boa sorte,
BrianO
----- Original Message ----- From: "Deborah Lindsay" <corvidae2001@yahoo.com> 
To: "mediterranean plants" <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
Sent: Monday, August 11, 2008 8:01 PM
Subject: Purslane/Portulaca oleracea
We grow "improved" (larger leaves, upright habit) varieties of this as a summer salad vegetable here in our Oakland garden. These need more water than the wild form, which grows as a summer "weed" in parts of the Bay Area in sidewalks and vacant lots. My mother gathered the wild type and taught me to recognize it, having learned about it from our Mexican-American neighbors in San Jose. I have seen the wild type being gathered by both Mexican American and Asian-American people in my neighborhood recently, and it can be bought at some of the farmer's markets sold by same. But I've never seen the improved types sold here.
I'd love to get a recipe for a soup or stew using purslane. Anybody willing to send me one? 

Best wishes,

Deborah Lindsay
Oakland, California

--- On Mon, 8/11/08, Brian Ottway <ottways@eircom.net> wrote:


From: Brian Ottway <ottways@eircom.net>
Subject: Fw: Challenge: create a list of low water edibles
To: "mediterranean plants" <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
Date: Monday, August 11, 2008, 11:56 AM
Hi Cali,

re: Portulaca

Your garden experience is much the same as mine - it grows
well  in my irrigated vegetable patch - but generally not
much elswhere. However, here it also grows wild poking up
between rocks and also in town through gaps between calcadas
(paving cobbles) used on the pavements - both situations
where it cannot be getting any water. I have dug up a few of
these plants and they have a rather succulent long root
(almost a taproot). However the ones in my garden have have
a more branched less fleshy root system. Perhaps the
irrigation is encouraging the plants to produce shallow
roots, whilst in drier habitats it roots more deeply? The
natural crevice habitat may provide more humidity for seed
germination and initial growth of the seedlings?

The wild plants are certainly getting by without any rain,
we have had only one short shower in 72 days!

Ciao
BrianO
----- Original Message ----- From: Cali Doxiadis 
  To: ottways@eircom.net ; medit-plants@ucdavis.edu ;
TalkingPoints@plantsoup.com
  Sent: Monday, August 11, 2008 6:28 PM
  Subject: Re: Challenge: create a list of low water
edibles


  Brian,
  My experience with Portulaca is that it needs a lot of
water. The only part of my garden where it appears regulary
a a (welcome) weed is the annual bed which gets regular
summer irrigation.
  Cali Doxiadis
  Corfu, Greece
----- Original Message ----- From: Brian Ottway 
    To: medit-plants@ucdavis.edu ;
TalkingPoints@plantsoup.com
    Sent: Monday, August 11, 2008 4:40 PM
    Subject: Re: Challenge: create a list of low water
edibles


    Nan,

    You are getting a great response! Every time I think of
sitting down and replying, I see someone else has come up
with one of "my" suggestions - last one to bite
the dust was Carissa!

    So just three additional suggestions that I can think
of as I sit here:

    1. Ceratonia siliqua - the carob tree. One of the
toughest trees I know.

    2. Hottentot Fig - Carpobrotus edulis. An introduced
and rather invasive weed here in Portugal.

    3. Another weed - purslane- Portulaca oleracea. Used a
lot here in soups and stews. I also use it in salads. An
excellent source of polyunsaturates.

    Better send these off now before someone gets in ahead
of me!

    Boa Sorte,

    BrianO
----- Original Message ----- From: N Sterman 
      To: medit plants forum
      Sent: Sunday, August 10, 2008 6:48 AM
      Subject: Challenge: create a list of low water
edibles


      Hi all


      I've been asked several times lately about low
water plants that are edible or make edible fruits.  I
thought it might be fun if we made this a group project.


      So far, my list includes:


      Fruiting plants:
      Fig
      Grape
      Pomegranate
      Olive
      Pitajaya
      Pineapple guava – feijoa


      Herbs
      Bay
      Rosemary
      Oregano
      Sage
      Fennel (though invasive in Southern California)


      What can you add?


      Nan



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      Encinitas, CA 92023


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