Edible weeds are our manna
Maundy Thursday commemorates Jesus Christ’s last supper with the apostles. It may involve food, but is expectedly not among my favorite stories.
As a food writer, I pay close attention to the narratives in the Bible that involve food and eating. My favorite is the miracle of the loaves and the fish, where Jesus fed a multitude of 5,000 with five loaves of bread and two small fish. The Gospel of John mentions that the food came from a single boy in the crowd. After the meal was over, the apostles collected the scraps which filled up 12 baskets.
Likewise, the story of how the Israelites were blessed in their journey to
In the
“It is not hard to convince people to eat weeds after they taste these,” says Philippine National Bank chairman Flor Gozon-Tarriela who makes it her mission to educate people on the usefulness of weeds. “What people ignore or take for granted can help lessen the hunger and nutrition problems. Weeds can be a source of economic opportunities.”
Flor Tarriela propagates edible weeds in Flor’s Garden, a five-hectare property in Antipolo. But “even in small areas, you can have sustainable food sources.” Aside from being fast-growing, the bonus is that the plants need minimal care.
It may be surprising that some weeds have become tasty components of haute cuisine. Indian hydrocolyte or takip kuhol, for example, is used for making leaf tempura in
We tried a weed and flower salad that included white cadena de amor, katuray or vegetable hummingbird, pipinong ligaw, deep purple ternate flowers, and others. This went well with a “blushing blooms” vinegar-based salad dressing with minced onions, garlic, sugar, pickles from the book. Although weeds may be plants considered unattractive, undesirable or troublesome, especially growing where they are not wanted, they should find a place in our gardens and diets. They are quite tasty, too.