All plants /Cactus /Agave
Agave
Agave americana, asparagus family. Common in West and Central Texas.
At a glance
- What
- The heart and flower stalk, cooked
- How
- Slow pit-roasted; stalk roasted
- When
- Year-round; stalk before it blooms
- Where
- Rocky West and Central Texas
- Value
- Starch, sugars
Caution: Raw agave is caustic and full of irritating crystals: it is edible ONLY after long cooking. The sap can burn skin. This is a traditional pit-roast food, not something to eat raw. Never eat a wild plant on this guide's word alone. Confirm identity against several sources and learn the look-alikes first.
Identification
A giant rosette of thick spine-tipped leaves that sends up a towering flower mast once in its life. Also called the century plant.
Uses
Pit-roasting for a day or more turns the fibrous heart sweet and molasses-dark; the roasted flower stalk is food too. The plant is the source of agave syrup and, elsewhere, tequila and mezcal.
Photo: Jim Evans, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Forages well with
Forage safely. Never eat a wild plant on this site's word alone. Confirm identity with several sources, learn the look-alikes, and when in doubt, leave it in the ground.