Tamarind & Morning Glory Foray

I managed to convince my mate to take me foraging through the week as I still have no transport at present we went down to the sea shore looking for Cassava (Manihot esculenta) mostly because my friend was silly enough to mention it grew wild along the beach and I said you cant say things like that and not take me hay…..

So off we went to the closest beach only about ten minutes away we didn’t find any Cassava but I found heaps of beach morning glory (Ipomoea pes-caprae) and we also found an absolutely loaded Tamarind (Tamarindus indica) tree. I have been eyeing off the Tamarinds in town every time we go in there but they are late ripening this year and I was worried that because it has been so wet here they may go moldy on the branches but we were lucky or though the majority were not ready there were some on the group which I was wrapped about so we collected them and made our way back home with our bounty.

Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of the morning glory in flower but you can look it up if you search the botanical name easy enough. I washed the sand off the leaves and I cook it like any other green, don’t freak out about the white sap it cooks away just fine but don’t get it on your cloths it is a pain to get out & off your hand.  It has a slightly glutenous texture but not to bad and the flavor is very unique I really like it. I ended up freezing some as we had a far bit and that way I could enjoy it through the next week to do this I just blanch, drain and freeze I then defrost and add to what ever I like.
With the Tamarind I pick off the outer shell and put the pulp and seeds into a bowl I add water and with my hands I squish the pulp off the seeds. I then pick the seeds out and discard them I use the pulp to make sauces for cooking or I freeze the pulp raw. I absolutely love Tamarind when my friend first showed me it I was so exited because I thought if I like the bought stuff the real thing will be amazing and on seeing the greedy gleam in my eyes my my friend warned me not to eat to much of it but my greed for this tastiest of sour morsels was to great for me to heed his warning and I payed dearly for it.

After putting it in everything I eat and sucking on the fruit all day on and off for the next week or so my tongue began to feel really sore and it got worse & worse until in the end it felt like it was blistered it was very painful for a long time and even after my actual tongue had settled down I couldn’t eat things like strawberries or bananas ect because it would start it up again, I’m still not sure exactly what the science is behind this effect but it lasted for months. I was not happy at the time and what made it worse was my friend giving me that I told you so look with a smirk on his face and I was even less happier when I got back back home to Tasmania and I couldn’t eat my grandmothers yummy strawberries but lesson learnt for sure.