HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016 04-08 Bacon-wrapped hosta? Surprise, the perennial plant is edible STAR TRIBUNE4/11/2016 Bacon -wrapped hosta? Surprise, the perennial plant is edible- StarTribune.com
VARIETY
Bacon -wrapped hosta? Surprise, the
perennial plant is edible
Stop deer from eating your hosta plants by dining on them before
they do.
By Aimee Blanchette (http://www.startribune.com/aimee-blanchette/10644446/) Star Tribune
APRIL 8, 2016 — 10:51AM
Are deer devouring your hostas? If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. The common shady
plant is edible, it turns out.
"The deer are onto something," said Pam McCurdy, who ate her first hosta dish in
Beijing about 15 years ago. "It tastes kind of like a green bean, but a little more bitter.
Hostas are one of the world's most popular shade plants. In the United States, we grow
them for their perennial beauty, but in Asia, hosta is grown as a commercial crop.
McCurdy, who lives in Maplewood, hasn't eaten hosta since her trip to China, but an
article celebrating the plant as a bona fide edible vegetable has been circulating social
media, and McCurdy thinks she's ready to give it another try.
"Why not?" she said. "I think about kale and how much I eat that now, but I don't ever
remember eating it six or seven years ago."
Could dinner really be as close as our backyards and alleyways?
It really is that simple, said acclaimed New York forager Ellen Zachos. In her book,
"Backyard Foraging," Zachos explains that the taste varies among species and cultivars,
but all are safe to eat. The newest, tightest shoots are the most tender, so it's best to
harvest them before the leaves start to unfurl.
Although there's no cookbooks devoted to hosta recipes — at least, not yet — those who
eat it said hosta can be cooked much like asparagus or green beans. In Japan, hosta is
often skinned, parboiled, chopped and served over rice with soy sauce.
On the Seed Savers Exchange forum (www.seedsavers.org), photos show hosta shoots
alongside shrimp and ramen noodles, sauteed and sprinkled with sesame seeds, and
wrapped in bacon.
@aimeeblanchette
aimee.blanchette@startribune.com 612-673-1715 aimeeblanchette
7762087. J I
(http://stmedia.startribune.com/images/ows 1460128
http://www.startri bune.com/bacon-wrapped-hosta-the-perennial-0 ant-is-edi bl e/375040231/ 1 /1