Kentucky's love affair with Salad
Poke weed, used in salads in Appalachia
The Kentucky tradition of salads goes back to Elizabethan, England. In The English Hous-wife (1615),
the author alludes to "...the young buds and knots of all mannerof
wholesome herbs at their first springing...as mint, lettuce, violets
and marigolds, spinach, and many others mixed together served up to the
table with vinegar, sallet oyle and sugar." He suggests also that the
cook boil the greens, such as spinach until they are "...exceedingly
soft and tender as pap" and then seasoned with currants or small pieces
of toast and vinegar sweetened with a little sugar.
Poke
is an indigenous mountain green dating back to the days of the indians.
They and the early settlers relied on Poke and Sassafras tea to hone up
the body in the spring, after a long winter. Health depended on the
herbs from the land, rather than on pharmaceutical houses. In addition
to its medicinal properties, Poke was a valuable sourse of food for the
pioneers. It is a very common Appalachian dish and is often served with
eggs. It required no cultivation and the mountain men and boys were
free to hunt and fish, while the women and children gathered a natutral
Poke crop.
After gathering the Poke, the dead grass and dry
leaves were removed and the women began cooking in the kitchen.They
filled a large pan with enough water to boil the Poke they had
gathered. They would then lower it into the water and boil it for about
three minutes. Today with the invention of refrigeration, the cooked
greens are refrigerated, frozen or used. Some cooks serve them with
salt, pepper and bacon bits. Others simmer them with salt pork and
onions or fry them in bacon grease.
Harlan, Kentucky is home
to the annual Poke Sallet festival. It offers Bluegrass music, a choo
choo train, and a homecoming pageant. During the four day event,
various groups sell Poke Sallet. The last festival advertised as follows
Think you make the best poke sallet in Harlan County? Want to pit yourself against Kentucky's finest poke sallet cooks? Want to know what poke sallet is? Then attend the Poke Sallet Festival in Harlan, Kentucky. The festival begins Thursday, June 5, 2009 and continues through Sunday June 8, 2009. The poke sallet cooking contestis June 7. What happens at the Poke Sallet Festival besides cooking poke sallet? Plenty!
- There'll be a cornhole toss
- a poke sallet jail where you can have your boss arrested and put in jail for 15 minutes
- mountain storytelling
- the Miss Harlan County Homecoming Pageant
- lots
of gospel and Christian music
- a home run derby, car and bike shows
At the festivals and in the home today cooked canned Poke is used
Bibb Lettuce
Another Kentucky favorite is Bibb lettuce.
John B. Bibb was born in Prince Edward County, Virginai in 17 89. He
soon moved with his family to Russelville, Kentucky. Later, in 1845, he
moved to Frankfort and built Gray Gables, which still stands at the
corner of Wapping Street and Watson Court.
He wasn't interested
in the social life of the city or in a career in public life. Instead
he embarked on adventures in his lovely garden that rolled down to the
Kentucky River. There, he evolved the salad head that bears his name.
In his eighties, he began givinf lettuce plants to friends and
neighbors. Otherwise this wonderful lettuce might have been lost
forever. Bibb lettuce is now available throughout the world.
Recipe: Wilted Bibb Lettuce Salad
6 slices of bacon
1/4 cup of vinegar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of sugar
1/8 teaspoon of pepper
1/4 lb. of Bibb lettuce
Warm a large bowl by filling it with very hot water.
Fry bacon, remove from pan and set aside to crisp.
Break bacon into small bits.
Pour water out of bowl and dry it.
Put cut lettuce into the bowl
Add salt, sugar and pepper to hot bacon grease
and pour over lettuce immediately.
Cover bowl and let lettuce wilt for 5 minutes.
Uncover and sprinkle with vinegar and bacon bits.