• Home
  • About
  • CSA Providers
  • CSA Shares
  • CSA’s
  • Farmers Markets

Redland Rambles

You are what you eat. Do you eat where you are?

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« Juicing clementines
Surviving the freeze »

Pick a peck of piper betel

January 18, 2010 by marian33031

Piper betel leaf

Fans of piper betel, rejoice! It survived the freeze somewhat well. Robert Barnum told me that the lower leaves got burned by the cold, but the ones higher up survived. Piper betel is a shrubby, branching, leafy vine that climbs as high as the treetops. Robert has to climb up a tall ladder to harvest it from the higher levels. The piper also spreads from tree to tree like ground cover. It appears not to damage the tree it’s on at all, just uses it as a support.

Piper betel is a member of the black pepper family, and is used usually as an outer wrapper, or cooked or steamed. Frodnesor at Food For Thought used it successfully as a wrapper for a Vietnamese dish a few weeks ago. Bill at Tinkering With Dinner combined it in a stir fry with lemongrass and sugar, and got a taste of root beer. Fascinating! But don’t try it raw. La Diva Cucina discovered that the hard way when she put it in a salad a few weeks ago. Cooked is so much better, darling! Robert advises to use piper where you want a smoky, sausagey flavor. He uses it in various ways — as a layer in lasagna, cooked with greens, or blanched first to use as a wrap for sushi rolls. He also created a recipe where he dips the piper betel leaf into tempura batter and fries it.

Robert Barnum stands in front of a tree covered by piper betel. Picture taken before the last freeze.

Medicinal uses of piper betel:

The betel leaf is used in a number of traditional remedies for the treatment of stomach ailments, infections, and as a general tonic. It is often chewed in combination with the betel nut (Areca catechu), as a stimulatory. Some evidence suggests that betel leaves have immune boosting properties as well as anti-cancer properties. [Note: this is NOT the areca that you can get at Home Dept. If you do want to grow it, Robert has it.]

Trade Winds Fruit web site

……….

Broad Spectrum Antibacterial Activity of Betel

One such medicinal plant studied was Piper betle L. Results showed that among the 300 plant species screened, P. betle maintained a broad spectrum antibacterial activity against all the test pathogens, such as Ralstonia, Xanthomonas, and Erwinia. It was also revealed that the P. betle solvent extract had more superior action than streptomycin

Food & Fertilizer Technology Center, Phillipines

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in farm, photo | Tagged Possum Trot Nursery, Robert Barnum | 9 Comments

9 Responses

  1. on January 18, 2010 at 3:27 pm La Diva Cucina

    ARGH! That betel leaf is my nemesis! But I shall conquer, YES, and I WILL subdue your strong medicine flavors….just you wait Little Betel Leaf!!

    Until we meet again……


  2. on January 18, 2010 at 8:51 pm marian33031

    I have every confidence in your ability to tame the feisty piper betel!


  3. on January 18, 2010 at 9:46 pm Trina

    Great pictures! That betel leaf is tricky for me too…


  4. on January 19, 2010 at 12:29 am marian33031

    Yeah, Robert is quite the character! As for the piper, a little goes a long way…


  5. on January 19, 2010 at 10:43 am Karen

    It will kill the trees, same as air potato, kudzu and all the rest of the invasive vines. They don’t drain the sap, they just block the sun. And become heavy mats that act like a sail in a wind-storm, bringing down the weakened tree. I hope those vines don’t escape into natural areas!


  6. on January 19, 2010 at 11:54 am BillJ

    I think it would work really well with chipotle. That’s the tack I’m going to take next time I get hold of some.


  7. on January 19, 2010 at 3:05 pm marian33031

    You raise a good point. I’ll ask Robert about that and let you all know. The air potato, ugh, what a pest. Helped gather up pounds of those during the last stroll through his grove.


  8. on January 19, 2010 at 3:08 pm marian33031

    Yum, that does sound like a good idea! If you can’t wait to get more, I think it’s available (most of the time) at the Redland Organics tent at the Pinecrest Gardens Farmers Market on Sunday mornings.


  9. on January 19, 2010 at 4:52 pm La Diva Cucina

    Bill, STOP getting inside my head!! When Marian said to think of smoky uses of the betel leaf, that was the first thing I thought of….I wonder if the chipotle would complement or compete?



Comments are closed.

  • Recent Posts

    • Remembering Hani Khouri
    • 5th Annual Redland GrowFest!
    • Chefs’ Local Cookoff Challenge
    • Sea of seedlings
    • Jim Ewing presents at GrowFest!
    • Adventures of a Farm Apprentice
    • GrowFest! demos and presentations
    • OFF vs. BHF CSA
    • How does the Oriental Fruit Fly Quarantine affect us?
    • GrowFest! is a go!
    • Oriental Fruit Flies in Redland Trigger Quarantine
    • Lychees in the morning
    • Ugly veggie love (NSFW)
    • Plethora of peppers
    • Saucy Kohlrabi
  • Archives

  • Frequent Tags

    Art Friedrich Arturo Gonzalez avocado avocados Bee Heaven Farm bees black sapote brunch Brunch in Paradise Charles LaPradd chickens county budget county commissioners csa Dan Howard Dinner in Paradise Earth Dinner Earth Learning edible South Florida Extension Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens Farm Day Farmer Margie Pikarsky farmers market Fruit and Spice Park fundraiser Gabriele Marewski greenhouse GrowFest! Hani's Mediterranean Organics Hani Khouri heirloom tomatoes holiday Katie Edwards laurel wilt Little River Market Garden Local Links lychee mango Margie Pikarsky Marty Mesh Melissa Contreras Miami Herald Miguel Bode movie Muriel Olivares Nick Pikarsky Paradise Farms Paradise Farms Organic Pinecrest Gardens Farmers Market Possum Trot Nursery redbay ambrosia beetle Redland GrowFest! Redland Mediterranean Organic Redland Organics Robert Barnum Roots in the City share Slow Food Miami small farms conference Sous Chef 2 Go Steven Green Teena's Pride Farm Teena Borek Three Sisters Farm Tim Rowan UDB UF/IFAS UF/IFAS Cooperative Extension Upper East Side Farmers Market Urban Oasis Project Whole Foods Will Allen Worden Farm zoning
  • Blogroll

    • A Garden on the Bay
    • Annush on the Causeway
    • aPieceOfGarden
    • Art Loves Farms
    • Bee Heaven Farm's Blog
    • Broadfork Farm
    • Eating Local in the Tropics
    • Edgy Veggie
    • Food For Thought
    • Fresh From Florida
    • Gardens of TROY
    • Girl In Miami
    • Greener Miami
    • https://ediblesouthflorida.ediblecommunities.com/food-thought/memoriam-hani-khouri-businessman-chef-goatherd
    • Hungry Filmmakers
    • La Diva Cucina
    • Local Food South Florida
    • Mango & Lime
    • Miami Dish
    • Our Half Box
    • Red Roots – Local Goodness
    • Short Order
    • The Genuine Kitchen
    • The Lettuce Farm
    • Thyme for Food
    • Tinkering With Dinner
    • Words from Worden Farm
  • Contact

    • Marian Wertalka
  • Local Growers

    • Bee Heaven Farm
    • Florida Keys Sea Salt
    • Going Bananas
    • Green Groves Organic Farm
    • https://ediblesouthflorida.ediblecommunities.com/food-thought/memoriam-hani-khouri-businessman-chef-goatherd
    • Little River Cooperative
    • Paradise Farms Organic
    • PNS Farms
    • Redland Organic Herb Farm
    • Redland Organics
    • Teena's Pride
    • Three Sisters Farm
    • Verde Community Farm & Market
    • Worden Farm
  • Local Links

    • Blind Tastes
    • Bordercross
    • Dade County Farm Bureau
    • Earth Learning
    • edible South Florida
    • Florida Small Farms Conference
    • Fruit and Spice Park
    • Gaby's Farm
    • Help Yourself!
    • Les Dames d'Escoffier
    • Meldy Hernandez Yoga
    • Miami G.R.O.W. Project
    • Michael's Genuine Food and Drink
    • novae gourmet
    • Permaculture Miami
    • Redland Riot
    • Robert is Here
    • Schnebly Redland's Winery and Brewery
    • Slow Food Miami
    • Sous Chef 2 Go
    • T.R.E.C. UF/IFAS
    • The Greater Everglades Foodshed
    • The Market Company
    • UF/IFAS Extension
    • Urban Oasis Project
  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 626 other subscribers
  • Copyright©2009-2015 Marian Wertalka

    • Register
    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.com

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


  • Follow Following
    • Redland Rambles
    • Join 133 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Redland Rambles
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Copy shortlink
    • Report this content
    • View post in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: