If you go in the southerly United States , you knowkudzu . The invasive , dark-green weed cling to dilapidated barn , climbs tree , spreads across fields and seems to eat almost everything in its path , right up to the side of the freeway .
There ’s never been much employment for the stuff , but if you were pop the question , say , a kudzu salad , would you eat up it ? What if you were extend something whole dissimilar but as " unknown " — like grilled guinea bull or pan - roast pigeon ? Would you eat either of those ?
The likely answer is no because , well , they ’re just not considered mainstream in the United States . But should they be ? Perhaps . ( More on that in a minute . )
allot to the 2015 International Food Information Council ( IFIC ) Foundation ’s 10th anniversaryFood and Health Survey Taste , most Americans — 83 pct in fact — say sense of taste is what ’s most important when they make their food choices . ( Have you ever tasted kudzu , guinea hog or pigeon ? Did n’t think so . ) Price ( 68 percent ) and healthfulness ( 60 percent ) fall out behind , and have every class during the survey ’s 10 - year history .
But aside from our apprehensiveness of their taste , assistant professor and filename extension nutrition specializer Carla J. Moore , Ph.D. RDN , LD , at UGA ’s College of Family & Consumer Sciences , says she thinks we do n’t eat these potentially edible detail because we do n’t ask to .
" The U.S. give rise more than enough food to receive the population ’s basic nutritionary needs . And late estimates indicate that approximately 30 to 40 per centum of the solid food produced in the U.S. is wasted , " she says . " To my knowledge , these food do not possess nutritional profiles that are superscript to those of food that are presently available . "
Of course , alfresco of U.S. borders , this is another thing altogether . wop cop , for good example , is common on menus in South America , in particular throughout the Andes . Many Peruvian and Chilean restaurants serve rib " cuy " as an entrée , and some U.S. environmentalists are take note . Yes , conservationist .
Matt Miller , a scientific discipline writer with The Nature Conservancy , told NPRthe gnawer make a good , depressed - impact alternative to carbon dear beef . He also says guinea pig is delicious , by the way . ( And no , it does not taste like chicken . )
So what about pigeon , aka dove ? Still a delicacy in France , squab has been swear out since ancient times , and you’re able to find it on menus at high - end restaurants likePer SeandDaniel . Here ’s one offered by the New York City butcher shop Marlow & Daughters .
These are not the birds that leave their calling card on your car . Thosecarry diseasesthat can be transmitted to human being . eatery - caliber squab is now farm - elevate and safe for consumption , despite its decline in popularity . It ’s said to have a delicate taste , a cross between chicken and duck’s egg , and just slightly risque .
So back to that kudzu question . Would you try a salad made with kudzu greens ? What about a jelly , confect or sirup made from kudzu flower ? Kudzu quiche ? They ’re all potential because , yes , you’re able to exhaust kudzu .
Pretty much all of it — the foliage , flowers and roots — is edible except the vine . Use the leaves raw , baked in quiche , cooked down like collards or even deep - fried . Go for young kudzu shoots as they ’re tender and have a preference alike to snow peas .
So go for it . Shirk the social average and use up a guinea pig . Try a kudzu salad . Enjoy a pan - roast squab . You only dwell once , correct ?
