From Green Monday to Poke Salet Greens

Green Monday for Greek Cypriots is a happy day, one where families “go into the fields” (parks, mountains, back yards, beaches) to picnic. I was invited by my landlord to share the day with her family at their vacation home. It was a pleasurable event. A feast of fruits and vegetables, in Cyprus, is not a limited affair—our table in Protaras, by the sea, was bountiful, and the supply of food seemed never-ending. No meats or dairy products were served, as Green Monday begins the fifty-day fasting season for Greek Orthodox Easter. It was explained to me that the day is called “Green Monday” because of the vegetables (greens) we would eat and the idea of being out in the “greens fields” to do so. But, the original Greek term is also translated as “Clean Monday.”

Green/Clean Monday, in a religious sense, is a day to purify one’s mind, body, and spirit. In today’s terms, it would be “to rid one’s self of toxins” that destroy good health—physical, mental, emotional—and yes, spiritual as well. When you feel good, everything about the world is a little better, a little brighter, a little more connected to the spirit.

As I thought about the rites of spring, about new growth, new opportunity,--sort of a “do over” every year--I had a flashback to a conversation I had last summer with one of the best cooks I know, my cousin Pam.

And, here (you were waiting?) is the connection between Cyprus Greens and Poke Salet, Sallit, Salad Greens.

In spring, in my ancestral home of western Kentucky, the new fresh shoots of poke (or polk) weed are a useful delicacy. Pam, who has lived there all her life, recalls her childhood saying, “Mother used to always cook up a mess of poke greens for us; it was a spring ritual; it cleaned out the body, so to speak.” Even today, my cousin adheres to the tradition, noting the poke grows wild in the woods. “You find polk around where land has been cleared the year before, especially around dozer piles of brush. It is good eating. I always wash mine several times, blanche it, pour off that water, then add more plus salt, a little sugar and good ole bacon grease. That's the southern way to cook them.” (Of course, I have to add, any vegetable is a little bit better with bacon grease and sugar. . .but that wouldn’t work for Cypriot Green Monday!)

Perhaps upon reflection, the religious connection here is missing between the traditions of Kentucky and Cyprus, but there certainly is a comparison to be made about eating what nature provides and living a good life.

Of course, I couldn’t leave the concept alone, so I headed to the internet and read recipes for cooking poke greens--and the warnings. It seems that poke weed and polk greens (one in the same) can be seriously toxic—especially the roots and the older plants that have gone to seed—and suddenly I was thinking of the film, Into the Wild. However, on the positive side, internet sites also refer to the healing powers of polk. Native Americans used poke weed to make a salve to treat boils and other skin problems, and to ease the pain of rheumatism. Today, bloggers comment that it’s a natural way to cleanse the body—best in spring when the plants are fresh and new. Many sites offer recipes, much like that of my cousin. And, for those who have trouble wandering in the wilderness looking for non-toxic plants, one website takes orders for poke greens, canned as "Poke Salet": http://www.wildpantry.com/wildgreens.htm
Bon appetite!