Deadly nightshade, bush tomato
Deadly nightshade (atropa belladonna) is not a food. I know that. It’s important to include here, though, because it’s part of a vast family of delicious food plants. It is cousin or sister or brother to eggplant, potato and tomato, just for starters. It is also related to the Aussie bush tomato which bears the splendid name of solanum chippendalei. If plants had theme songs, bush tomato’s would obviously be the one with the sexy beat.
I had a deadly nightshade plant when I was in my teens (along with a two-headed skeleton under my bed). My family carefuly mislaid it when they realised what it was.
It used to be used as a cosmetic (eye brightener) and is still used in some medication. Whatever you do though, don’t eat it unless you are certain exactly which variety you are eating. Some of them contain a interesting chemicals or rather, chemicals with interesting side effects, hence the name.
Belladonna refers to the way it made eyes wide and lustrous. ‘Deadly’ refers to the fact that too much (and not very much at all can be too much) is poison. I don’t even recommend its use cosmetically unless you are an expert - lead used to be used as a face powder before the effects of lead poisoning were known, which was about the same time belladonna was used to brighten the eyes.
I have a recipe for you this post. The best baked potatoes ever. It’s not good on the specifics because even perfect baked potatoes in summer don’t feel quite right. Besides, everyone who has ever baked a potato has their own dream method - I obviously like a strong contrast between the textures of the skin and the flesh, for instance.
Baked Potatoes
Bake your potatoes whole, in their skin, until the outside is perfect and crunchy and the inside is perfect and crumbly. Split them open, add a nice knob of fresh butter and the sprinkle generously with bush tomato.
February 20th, 2007 at 12:30 am
Good potato recipe - yummie.