NEVER hesitate to call me on it if I'm wrong! How will I ever learn anything? Although it brings to mind the question what am I calling horse apples, because I am seeing a somewhat similarly shaped tree, with faintly pinkish white flowers and smaller green fruit with red blushes. Some type of crab apples maybe? God only knows. I'll have to figure it out. Colloquial names play hell with figuring out plants. There's so many flowers called "dandelion" by people that have nothing to do with dandelions and in some cases are even poisonous.

I have to wonder if I've fished from that pier. I have so many family down around Seabrook, Kemah, Webster, League City its not even funny.

I need more coffee in my system but I thought crab apples were yellow. "Horse apples" are green with a red blush when they're ripe. Tart as heck, but they are mixed with stuff to make jelly. They're much tarter than crab apples with a firmer bite and not good to eat when raw. You have to cook them.

God bless Carl Linnaeus.

But that brings us back to your point that osage oranges are edible?? Believe it or not, a week from today I have a wild foods class scheduled with a published author and I think it will be fun to bring this up to him. I remember not too long ago cracking one open for demonstration purposes and the smell of them will curl your toes. Its no wonder that insects avoid them. I would be fascinated to get my hands on a study about what all chemicals are contained in that sap. And I wonder if anybody has ever actually tested the insecticidal properties of the fruit yet.

Getting back to the subject. Fritters and wine made me think of another one. Elderberry! It ought to be similar to mulberry, right?

I would really love to see something smoked with rose canes. It wouldn't have to be much smoke, but save the trimmings from roses and then throw them in the smoke box for something like pork or maybe even chicken. Question would be, would it be a hot smoke or a cold smoke?

For further thought, we know that you don't smoke with cedar. But juniper berries are used in seasoning meat. And its the primary flavor in gin. Throw some juniper berries in the coals on a hot smoke for fish or sausage?

Oddly enough, the osage orange is a member of the mulberry family as are fig trees, one of the important chemicals found in it is tetrahydroxystilbene. The chemical is toxic to fungi, has possible insecticidal properties and is implicated as a cancer fighting drug as well as having benefits to the cardiovascular system. I have read a study by a university regarding this and as soon as I can find it I'll steer you to it. Very interesting.

I like your idea of using some unique woods in the smoking process. We have a nice bed of Lavender here at our home. Lovely smell, but I don't think it would be good for cooking. But the Rosemary we grow would I'd bet! You never know till you try right. Wow, the rose cane idea really sounds worth a try.

Yes, God bless him, but I used to curse him years ago in my Zoology class.

I love trying new things and learning new things. Food is an easy passion because everybody loves to eat. A friend of mine makes the joke that every native Texan is born knowing how to smoke a brisket, chicken fry, and make a good pot of beans. Smoked meats are some of the oldest things in our brains. We've been smoking various meats to preserve them longer than there's been art. Its one of the defining things of being human.

Thinking about it, I remember the latex stuff from mulberries, and from figs, and from osage orange. And the leaves have similar textures. I just hadn't put them together and realized the connection. I'll go digging tomorrow and exercise the google fu and try to find that study. Thank you!

Lavender is a spice used in french cooking mostly. I don't care for it as much in foods... unfortunately I just simply don't like high french cuisine. It doesn't agree with my palate. It tastes soapy to me, as does bergamot... hence the reason why I don't like earl grey teas.

But instead of a cooking wood, you would use the lavender like the rosemary as a skewer. The oils would still interact with the food and there would be a small amount of hot smoke from the tips. But it wouldn't be overpowering. Do it with something very lightly flavored... something like chicken or shrimp.

So when they cook salmon on a cedar plank, does that impart some of the cedar flavoring into the fish?

Yep. And I have and that's always made me scratch my head. Its a hot smoke and the flavor it imparts is similar to the flavor of juniper berries.

For the record: Hot smoke in how I'm referring to it is over direct heat. Commonly referred to as grilling.
Cold smoke is what we do to bacons and hams. This is the slow cooking in a smoky enviroment that we do to brisket.
There's even different degrees of cold smoke. A truly cold smoke is what you do with cheese. Its as far away from the heat as you can get it, with concentrated smoke over a long period of time.

That flies in the face of the rule, or does it? And if not, then why not pine? Pine nuts are very tasty. Is it to do with the amount of sap in the wood? Or hardwood versus soft?

I wouldn't smoke a brisket with cedar planks, but why is it that a fish grilled on one is so tasty. Length of exposure?

Yes, I have a friend who has a smoke house he uses to cure dry deer sausage. It never gets hot inside of it. Cold smoke more or less. I'm afraid when it comes to fish I'm not much of a connoisseur. I like it cooked just about anyways, as long as it's fried.

Cold smoke is done at temps below 170 deg. Hot smoke is done above that temp. Cold smoked foods need to have cure added to be safe.

pink salt goes into all our sausage and we let it hang for up to 14 days to dry. never gets warmer than 70 degrees and can't get cooler than 50.

Boy I love that kind of dry cured smoked deer sausage. Back when I lived in Fredericksburg you could buy it at most any icehouse or convenience store in the area (Beef or pork....some made with a mix of farm raised exotic venison and pork.) regardless it was all good. A fellow would just shove it in a coat pocket with some paper towel around it and cut off a chunk every now and then as the day goes by. It was considered poor manners to not offer your buddies a chunk as well. I've never seen it for sale up here in the metro-mess...although I'm sure some places are bound to have it.

Seeing your post elsewhere reminded me of this.

#1 if you want jerky, head out towards Hamilton and a little north of town on the way to Hico on the east side of the road, you'll see the Dutchman. They've got all kinds of sausage and jerky. Venison, buffalo, elk, you name it, they've got it. Also, there used to be a fellow out near Bowie. I can't remember, but I know heading up 281, you'd see his signs out right before the turn towards Ringgold. REAL good jerky. Real good.

#2 I went to my wild foods class last weekend and got into a lovely discussion with the teacher about this topic (among others) Basically what's going on with the cedar and the pine is exactly what we were theorizing that its the temperature its being cooked at.

With the canes - blackberry, raspberry, dewberry, and rose - what would work would be to have older canes that have been cut to length and stacked and dried. Soak them for a couple hours before you cook with them, and lay them directly on the hot bed of coals. I'd start out with something light like chicken and you're going to basically be grilling but with a little extra smoke. But I think it could be very good.

HAH! I rock. I keep on saying it then decided to google. Well what do you know. I was right.

Neil Sperry smokes meat with rose canes. Says they're similar to apple wood.

Told you it would be good. Now I have to try it.

I'm anxious to try it myself. Great info!

Bump because it was a great discussion.

Pending on what you're making, tea-smoking might impart some new flavor to your meats. It's a Chinese method of smoking tea leaves with things like cinnamon, star anise, rice, citrus zest, etc. I probably wouldn't use it as your main smoke, however.