How to Cook Cattails

Cattails are plants in the Typha genus, which has about 11 species. They are flowering plants found in wetlands primarily of the northern hemisphere. The plant has spongy leaves with horizontal root-like stems called rhizomes whose stalks grow up to 7 feet tall. Cattails have a variety of parts that are edible, including the rhizomes, underground stems, the young shoots and the flower spike. Here's how to cook cattails.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Harvest the rhizomes when they ripen in the fall and winter. They may be peeled and cooked just like potatoes but contain 10 times the starch.

2. Make flour with the rhizomes. Mash them into a pulp, boil and allow them to dry. The dried pulp can then be ground into pure white flour.

3. Pick the young shoots in the early spring and peel them. They are called Cossack asparagus because of their asparagus-like taste when cooked. They can be boiled just like asparagus or stir-fried. They also may be added to soups or pasta dishes and taste more like a cucumber when eaten raw.

4. Boil or steam the immature flower spikes or "kittentails" in early summer and eat them like corn on the cob. They actually taste like corn when prepared this way and are also frequently pickled.

5. Collect the pollen from the mature flower in early summer and use it as a thickener or add it to other flours as a protein and vitamin supplement.

Resources

• More Information About Cattails on Econetwork

[mommyhen42]

on 7/28/2009 great information, my back yard has the theme of edible landscape, not that I will eat everyting grown there but rather that you can eat everything growing there. I already have cattails that have sent up heads this year and will be gathering more this fall.