It Isn't Just for Pandas Anymore - Bamboo Pickles

by Hanna Raskin, Posted May 27th 2009 @ 4:00PM

Isn't that what pandas eat?

Long typecast as solely appropriate for flooring material, bamboo has made a comeback nationwide in recent years. One Southern entrepreneur has found a more delectable way to use the woody tree's shoots: She's pickling them.

Though common in Chinese and Thai cultures, zesty vinegar-soaked rings of hand-shucked bamboo are also an edible version of a North Carolina history textbook (and pretty darn delicious when paired with a Bloody Mary). World War II veterans returning from their tours planted a few smuggled bamboo sprigs in Wilkes County fields in the mid-20th century, but nobody paid the trees much mind till the price of tobacco plummeted. Desperate for a new revenue source, area farmers asked their wives to figure out how to prepare the exotic crop -- which was growing at near-kudzu speed -- for their dinners.

Home cooks fruitlessly fried, steamed and boiled before finally landing on the pickle solution. Bamboo pickled in a top-secret vinegar elixir became a staple on family tables, but the local version wasn't popularized beyond Wilkes County until Carla Squires persuaded her mother and grandmother to start canning their harvest.

Her company, Bamboo Ladies, now sells their pickles throughout North Carolina. Enthusiasts farther afield can place their orders online. Bamboo pickles, besides being a trusty conversation starter, are lovely when paired with blue crab for a summery salad.

If only all homebuilding materials tasted so good.