Purslane: Nutritious, Delicious, Salvation From Starvation

Photo taken in Newton, Massachusetts by MarashGirl©2021 Above is a contemporary photo of purslane (perper in Armenian, ermerouk in Turkish). According to Marash Girl's interviews with survivors of the Ottomans'attempted genocide of the Armenian people early in the 20th century, purslane was often the only source of nutrition, nutrition that if those Armenians were "lucky", they would gather along the roadside, their only source of nutrition as they were marched out of their homes by the gendarmes of the Ottoman Empire, marched into the desert during the "death march"(see internet explanation below) . . . Today purslane (ermerouk in Turkish) is often used by Marash Girl as a vegetable to be used in salads and soups . . . both the leaves and the stems of the the plant are highly nutritious and delicious. Gardeners will welcome your gathering the purslane from among their plants, as purslane will suddently appear unbidden, particularly among the tomato plants in vegetable gardens throughout the northeast! Just be sure to remove the roots and wash the purslane plants in cool water, rinsing numerous times in order to rid the plants of any soil before chopping the purslane for soups or salads. N.B. Below taken from the internet: "Perhaps the most "classical" example of the death march was the one that occurred as part of the Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey (part of the fading Ottoman Empire) in 1915. The events leading up to that death march were paradigmatic of the experience of genocide victims in other places." "The death march of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire took place against the backdrop of the hostilities of World War I. In the spring of 1915 Ottoman rulers ordered that all Armenians be expelled from their homes in areas outside of war zones. The Armenians—men, women, and children—were then lined up and made to walk in convoys of tens of thousands toward the Syrian desert. Although the expulsions resembled deportations, the treatment of the people making the march by Turkish "guards" made it clear that a more sinister agenda was driving the march: a planned elimination of the Armenian population through a process of starvation and exhaustion. The death march was a culmination of decades of Turkish discrimination against Armenians, which had long consisted of the barring of Armenians from serving in the Turkish army, repeated executions of small groups of Armenians, and mass killings by special forces known as Teshkilâti Mahsusa—gangs of violent ex-convicts ordered by the Ottoman/Turkish government to commit murders of Armenians." N.B. Lest we forget . . . From the Internet: "June 1, Wilbraham, Massachusetts Two tornadoes hit Wilbraham on June 1, 2011, Town Administrator Robert A. Weitz says. The first was the F-3 tornado which also devastated Springfield and Monson and cut a swath through Wilbraham from Tinkham Road, south of the center of town, to Monson." And to relate this note to the above blogpost, before the tornado, Marash Girl's garden in Wilbraham was replete with wild purslane growing unbidden among the carefully planted tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and zucchini.

Vegetarians Beware . . . "When I think of all the wasted chicken carcasses in this world,,,"

Would you, dear reader, like to write this blog post?

Cabbage Stuff

Cabbage Stuff?  This time with chick peas for protein!

Cabbage Stuff?  Sounds awful but the kids loved it, and that was the name they gave to this delicious dish which Medzmama created (don't know if it's a traditional Armenian dish, though she was Armenian from Marash, and traditional!)

Here's how you make it.

Peel one large yellow onion; toss the peels into the compost OR save for coloring Easter eggs;  (they wouldn't do too well in this dish . . )  and chop or slice the onion; fry up the onion in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.  (Marash Girl likes to add a chopped clove of garlic, but Medzmama says that  Armenian cooks from Marash never cook with both onions and garlic but use either one or the other.  Marash Girl breaks that rule every time she cooks!  Marash Girl doesn't like rules, as you may have guessed by now!)

When the onions are wilted, and hopefully lightly browned, add the cabbage and stir.  When the cabbage is wilted, add a can of stewed tomatoes (or fresh tomatoes that have been skinned) and simmer for one half hour.

Serve over brown rice.

OR, if you are a meat eater, add ground meat after the onions are browned; brown the ground meat (usually lamb).  Then continue as directed above.

Cabbage Stuff!

Cabbage Stuff?  Sounds awful?  Wrong!  The easiest and most delicious winter meal you could prepare on a cold winter's day . . . that is, if you have green cabbage!  And here's how you do it.  (All credits go to Medzmama, Digin Azniv, of Springfield, Massachusetts.)

You'll have to have on hand a head of green cabbage, a large yellow onion, a clove of garlic (Medzmama says you can only use the onion or the garlic, never both, but Marash Girl breaks the rules and uses both), and a large can of stewed tomatoes.

Begin by peeling the large onion, slicing it or chopping it finely (your preference), and browning the onion slices on low heat in a good olive oil.  While the onion slices are browning, peel and chop one or two cloves of garlic, chop finely, and, adding to the onion slices, stir 'til lightly browned.  (If you or your guests eat meat, it is at this point that you would add ground lamb, and stir until well browned.)  Turn off the heat under the pot.
Back to the chopping block.  Remove the outer leaves from the cabbage and rinsing off the cabbage under cold fresh water. Slice the cabbage into thin strips (spaghetti sized).  Add the chopped cabbage to the already browned onion mixture, turn on the heat under the pot, and stir until the cabbage is slightly wilted.  Add fresh very ripe tomatoes, or a the can of stewed tomatoes, stir and simmer for one half hour.

"Cabbage Stuff", my kids' favorite epithet for this meal, will be even better the next day and the next, especially when served over rice pilaf or bulghour pilaf.  (For recipes, see this blog, Marash Girl - bulgur pilaf for Thanksgiving - Nov. 27, 2013.)

Happy eating!