What is Poke Sallet?
If you grew up in the South, you have probably heard of poke sallet, often called “poke salad.” Old timers picked the young tender shoots of pokeweed, boiled it down a couple of times and feasted on the dish. The leaves are vibrant and green. The berries are dark and mysterious. But even though pokeweed is deemed by many as a Southern delicacy, a hidden danger lies beneath. Pokeweed, also known as American Nightshade, Inkberry, Pigion Berry and Pokeberry, is an herbaceous perennial native to America. It grows from Maine to Florida and Minnesota to Texas. Even though it usually grows on a fence row, it can be found along roads, in fields and waste sites. According to the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, the pokeweed contains three types of poison: phytolaccatoxin, triterpene saponins and phytolaccin.
