Author Topic: Australian Boab seedlings as a root vegetable.  (Read 1141 times)

pagnr

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Australian Boab seedlings as a root vegetable.
« on: October 10, 2022, 04:58:09 PM »
Indigenous Australians used the swollen taproot of Boab seedlings as a vegetable.
In recent years this has become more widely recognised, and commercially grown.

https://www.abc.net.au/tv/pohskitchen/stories/s3345483.htm
Baby boab roots are the tap root of the tree when it’s just a seedling. The roots grow like a carrot, and the texture of the tuber is similar to water chestnuts.
They are crisp and white, with a sweet delicate flavour. They are best served raw, or lightly cooked, and can be used in salads, stir-fry and soups, or julienned for dips.
Boab leaves are also edible; they have a nutty flavour and can be used in salads, soups and stir-fries, or as a garnish. Poh used them in her boab pickle.


http://www.ausbushfoods.com/bushfoodsonline/news/Boab.htm
« Last Edit: October 11, 2022, 02:50:21 AM by pagnr »

Galatians522

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Re: Australian Boab seedlings as a root vegetable.
« Reply #1 on: December 02, 2022, 10:42:10 AM »
Wow! That is really neat! Not many people know it, but there are reports that the similar tap root on our native live oak seedlings are edible. I have eaten them in small quantities and was surprised that the root was not woody if eaten in the first spring/summer after sprouting. They kindof remind me of tiny carot shaped beets.

cassowary

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Re: Australian Boab seedlings as a root vegetable.
« Reply #2 on: January 07, 2023, 12:16:29 AM »
Wow, thanks for sharing that!
Will try to get some seeds and see for myself
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Daintree

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Re: Australian Boab seedlings as a root vegetable.
« Reply #3 on: March 07, 2023, 11:19:52 PM »
Seems cruel, to eat the children before their bones harden...  ???
I only have two, so don't want to sacrifice them, but if I ever get a bumper crop I'll give it a try!

Carolyn

Satya

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Re: Australian Boab seedlings as a root vegetable.
« Reply #4 on: August 12, 2023, 01:01:12 PM »
Aren't the seeds very hard/long to sprout? If it takes for ever to sprout, might not be the easiest veg to start. In our climate, seedlings of surinam(e) spinach produce a similar fleshy tap root. Interesting to find out about oak seedlings, we have to weed lots of them out due to squirrel games.

Galatians522

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Re: Australian Boab seedlings as a root vegetable.
« Reply #5 on: August 12, 2023, 03:21:49 PM »
Aren't the seeds very hard/long to sprout? If it takes for ever to sprout, might not be the easiest veg to start. In our climate, seedlings of surinam(e) spinach produce a similar fleshy tap root. Interesting to find out about oak seedlings, we have to weed lots of them out due to squirrel games.

This article us long, but it mentions the oak tubers. I have eaten them on many occasions. Some people doubt their edibility. I figure that they can't be too harmful if little kids were eating them "greedily" a hundred years ago. If there was a toxicity, it surely would have showed up by now. I have found them to be much less bitter than the acorns they sprouted from. Of course, I also eat the live oak acorns after roasting them in the campfire, too. They are surprisingly good that way with no other treatment. You know they are ready when the shell pops.

https://www.eattheweeds.com/tag/live-oak/