In New York City, there are street tree seasons that smell very good—like early summer, when lindens are in bloom. And there are seasons that can smell very, very bad: Fall, and ginkgo trees dropping fruit. And this is true wherever female ginkgo trees grow. These ancient trees, some of the oldest organisms on earth, were the familiars of dinosaurs, which they outlasted. They are unique in several ways, and the stench of their broken, autumn-ripe fruit is just one of their mysteries (for whom was the putrid smell an irresistible call to feast?). Within their yellow pulp, protected inside a pistachio-like shell, is their delicious, sought-after kernel, a functional food in East Asia for millennia.

Preparing ginkgo fruit to eat is not half as complicated as it may seem.

Photography by Marie Viljoen.

Above: Roasted ginko kernels.

Freshly-cooked ginkgo kernels (they are not technically nuts) are delicious—tasting something like a hybrid of chestnut, pine nuts, and tofu—and they are absolutely odor-free. Ginkgo is commonly eaten in China, Korea, and Japan.

Above: Ripe, soft ginkgo can be picked straight from trees, if you can reach.

My own ginkgo adventures began relatively late in my foraging life, in the autumn of 2018. Emboldened by the Asian women I saw gathering fallen fruit under female trees in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park every fall, I shyly followed their example, scooping the ripe fruit up carefully in gloved hands. They wore plastic bags on their feet, to protect their shoes from the reeking pulp. (Unbroken fruit does not smell). Back home, after cleaning, boiling, and roasting them,  I tasted my first, fresh, vividly green ginkgo “nut,” It was love at first bite.

Above: The spectacular color of a male ginkgo in fall.

Ginkgo trees are rare in the wild (and they reside in China). But there are plenty scattered in cities around the globe, planted in regions with cold winters and humid summers. The trees are resilient, pest-free, and beautiful. For ornamental purposes, male trees are preferred, since they form no smelly fruit. But females trees do sneak in, and that is very lucky for urban dwellers who appreciate the bounty when it falls in mid-autumn.

Above: Ginkgo trees in Brooklyn, New York.

For plant geeks: Ginkgo biloba is the only species in the genus Ginkgo. That genus is the only one in the family Ginkgoaceae, which is the only occupant of the order Ginkgoales, which is the sole member of the division Ginkgophyta. The fossil record of ginkgo is over 200 million years old.

Above: Ginkgo fruit begins to ripen in early to mid fall.

Ginkgo fruit does contain toxins: In the raw pulp there is urushiol (think poison ivy) which can cause contact dermatitis. Wearing gloves is important when handling any broken fruit or when removing the kernel. (Interestingly, the raccoons and possums who relish city ginkgo—eating the smelly pulp only—don’t know about the glove-rule and seem to be just fine.)

The kernel of ginkgo contains cyanogenic glycosides, which are heat-sensitive, and are destroyed by cooking. There is also so-called ginkgotoxin, a neurotoxin that is not heat-sensitive; it inhibits the absorbtion of Vitamin B6, which is essential for nervous system development. In a case of overdose the kernels can cause illness and even seizures. According to the authors of a 2020 paper documenting a single case of “presumed” ginkgo poisoning case in Japan, “seven to 150 pieces for children and 40 to 300 pieces for adults are the ranges for overdose.” That’s very broad! (The person in question ate around 80, if you’re curious, and was also described as actively alcoholic). A Japanese friend who has eaten ginkgo all her life—she is in her 70s—cuts herself off at 12. And I have eaten 20 with no ill effect, but my usual dose is about six, as snack on a skewer. It takes enormous self-restraint.

Source link

You May Also Like

Effective moth control methods for your home – Growing Family

Collaborative post If you notice a moth in your closet, you might…

9 Tips For Professional-Looking Garden Design

If you’re here, you want to grasp some fresh ideas for your…

How to Grow and Care for Redbud Trees | Gardener’s Path

Cercis spp. Spring is a marvelously colorful time of year, with all…

A Corn-Planting Experiment | The Survival Gardener

Back in August or so we put down some landscape fabric to…