Foraging for Food - CATTAIL (soup & tea)

This post is an update on my cattail foraging. I was determined to get something out of the cattail even though the rhizome itself was very fibrous but not unplateable. Even though the cattail stock smells sweet, I wanted to try making a soup out of it:

Cattail Soup

Boil cleaned and peeled cattail rhizomes in water
Remove from heat
Add miso paste



Serve with seaweed (optional) with noodles.

Verdict: While it was good, the miso masked any flavor of the cattail.

Next, as I mentioned, the cattail stock smelled 'sweet' so I decided to make a tea out of it.

Cattail Tea

Boil cleaned and peeled cattail rhizomes with water just covering the cattail
Allow the cattail to oxidize (this gives the rhizomes a red/pink tint that transfers into the tea)
Once oxidized, add more water and bring to a boil
Remove rhizomes
Add honey to taste (use only local or N.American honey. Please do NOT buy Chinese/Indian honey)

Verdict: The resulting tea is thick (from the starch) and has a nice flavor. The honey does not mask the cattail and compliments it nicely.