Back on Day 643 I told the tale of the Poisonous
Vietnamese River Fish. A culinary
adventure I never thought I would be able to top… until now… with our families
ingestion of poisonous greens.
A few weeks ago Serena made the most delicious, and somewhat
out of the ordinary, dinner. She had
picked up a fresh loaf of fresh Italian bread from the market and made the most
wonder omelet sandwiches. Eggs, with
melted cheese, bacon, and cooked greens.
It was really delicious.
And then, about thirty minutes later Serena started
complaining about a stinging sensation in her mouth… and a prickling sensation
on her skin.
I didn’t think much of it at first… but then I started
feeling the same symptoms.
Now, by the time I started feeling the effects, Serena was
already in full blown panic mode, so I made a point of keeping my cool… and my
symptoms a secret… for the time being.
But I did do a little research.
I dug the plastic bag that had held the greens Serena bought
out of the trash and I examined the handwritten name of the plant written on
the bag and preformed a simple Google search.
Well… hmmmm…
Before I tell you what I found, I want to be clear and tell
you that Serena bought these greens from the produce section of a store in
Suriname where most folks do their grocery shopping, especially the expat
community. So, in my opinion, they
should have been vetted as safe to consume.
However… they weren’t.
Now, I can’t remember the exact Dutch name for the plant,
but when I preformed my search, it came back as a relative of the Elephant Ear,
the beautifully decorative plant found outside many landscaped homes. However, what I also discovered is that the
Elephant Ear is not fit for human consumption.
In fact, if you ingest Elephant Ear, you are advised to contact Poison
Control!
Apparently, the plant is toxic. And even if you get the oil from the plant on
your skin it is known for causing irritation and a burning sensation.
So… what happens when you ingest it? Well… let me tell you. It makes your mouth very sore, tongue a bit
swollen, and your skin crawl like you’re having a serious allergic reaction.
That said, I also read that Elephant Ear is safe to consume
as long as it is cooked. Which is was…
at least when I ate it. Serena admitted
to eat some of it raw just to see how it tasted… and she of course handled the raw
plant while she was preparing it. So,
Serena’s symptoms were understandable.
But what about my symptoms? Were
they simply psychosomatic?
What do you do?
Well… being in Suriname with no access to American Poison Control
we did the next best thing. We called
our Embassy nurse who is a local. Her
reaction was calm and understanding.
“This happens. I have
had issues with this plant before. Even
after cooking it. Your symptoms should
pass in a few hours.”
Yeah… in a few hours.
And our symptoms did pass in a few hours. We were fine.
But that still didn’t put us at ease.
In a country that has plenty of options for greens we couldn’t
understand why these plants were for sale at grocery stores. Or why people would buy them if they are
known to sometimes cause issues when consumed (even if they are cooked).
Thankfully the boys are going through a phase where they
would rather play than eat the delicious meals Serena makes for the families,
so they weren’t affected. Only Serena
and I were affected by the toxic plant.
It’s a shame really… because the meal was quite delicious.
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