Acacia
JUNE INGREDIENT: CATCLAW OR “WAIT A MINUTE” BUSH, SENEGALIA GREGGII (FORMERLY ACACIA GREGGII)
I write to you from Acacia Avenue in Pipes Canyon, thrilled that just outside my door are thousands of Acacia trees from which I can harvest basketfuls of the curiously flat and curly pods we’re featuring for June’s HDTK dinner. Acacia or catclaw pods aren’t usually coveted as a top choice ingredient; they’re generally classified as a survival food. But it’s summer in the high desert, and you’re a survivor of it. A perfect pairing!
So get out of your swamp-cooled pad and enjoy a cool evening of pods at the Community Center. If you’re not up for getting snagged on the trail, feel free to bring a dish made with any store-bought variety of legume or other members of the pea family. —Sarah Witt
For more information on HDTK, as well as helpful tips on where acacia grows and it’s many uses, check out Sarah’s website.
Monday, June 19th at 7pm
Copper Mountain Mesa Community Center
65336 Winters Road, Joshua Tree, CA
From September 2016 to July 2018 Sarah Witt organized High Desert Test Kitchen (HDTK), a monthly dinner gathering at the Copper Mountain Mesa Community Center in North Joshua Tree. Each month a different ingredient was featured with the challenge of incorporating local desert roots, fruits, insects, or a handful of twigs into a culinary repertoire. Participants would bring a dish to share, gathering together to discuss where the ingredients were sourced, the manner in which they were processed, and to consider their EQ (or edibility quotient). To read more about these native ingredients visit Sarah’s website.