North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Jim Fruth <jfruth@uslink.net>]

    Many years ago, in response to my insisting that Black Nightshade
(Solanum nigrum) was poison, an elderly gentleman instructed me to make him
a pie of it and he would eat it.  I believed his saying that it was
wholesome and delicious so I helped him eat it.  I've been eating nightshade
pie, "poison pie," as my wife and I called it, ever since.
    Some folks said that a bit of baking soda needed to be added to
neutralize the 'poison' while others insisted the, inadvertently picked,
green berries contained the poison and the baking soda neutralized that.
Well, we never added any baking soda, usually had a few green berries in the
pie and, not only didn't die but, we never got sick either.
    Most black nightshade berries are tiny, about the size of wild
blueberries so they are a pain to pick.  Also, when picked, the stem
separates from its branch, stays on the berry and has to be picked off, also
a nuisance.  Use a blueberry pie recipe and, as we did, you may decide that
the flavor is very worth the bother.  Eat the pie while it is still warm as
that is when it tastes the best.
    Some time ago, the Genetics Department of the University of Minnesota
developed a Solanum nigrum that produced berries that were nearly the size
of marbles.  They used the plant for class study.  If you can still get some
of that seed, it will take the tedium out of picking.
Good Eating,
Jim Fruth
Pequot Lakes, MN