Folks file into the Sports Cafe in downtown Harlan on Friday to sample the Poke Sallet Dinner, served up every year during the Poke Sallet Festival /Photo by Joe Asher

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Harlan County’s Poke Sallet Festival has wrapped up for 2025, having brought all sorts of fun, food and entertainment to downtown Harlan. The unique dish from which the festival takes its name – Poke Sallet – is served mostly in the south and Appalachian areas of the United States.

Poke Sallet has even been celebrated in song, although the correctness of the spelling used in the title may be debated. Tony Joe White had a hit with his song “Polk Salad Annie,” also covered by Elvis Presley, in 1969.

Poke sallet is also known as pokeweed. The plant must be prepared properly or eating it could cause illness, including diarrhea, stomach problems and vomiting.

According to https://delishably.com, poke sallet, or pokeweed, is found throughout most of the United States but is more prevalent in the central and eastern southern states. The plant itself, a relative of nightshade, is poisonous. However, when properly prepared is considered a delicacy by many who reside in the rural areas of the United States.

“In fact, in its cooked form, pokeweed is so popular that many states, especially those in the South, hold yearly festivals in the early spring to commemorate it,” states delishably.com.

The biggest yearly event in Harlan County is the Poke Sallet Festival, with this year’s installment being the 70th Annual occurrence of the event.

Poke sallet is not for everyone, as there are differing opinions on the tastefulness of the plant.

“I love poke sallet,” says Harlan County resident Norma Asher. “One of my favorite memories is gathering up some poke sallet with my mother. She would fry it up with eggs and serve it with some cornbread. It was very good.”

Others do not care for the dish, finding the taste unpleasant.

Preparing Poke Sallet is a multistep process and is not recommended for those who are unfamiliar with cooking the vegetable. Poke must be harvested at the right time of year and only when it is below a certain size, boiled multiple times to remove the toxins, and then fried with other ingredients. Since every part of the plant is toxic, consumption can lead to illness if not properly prepared.

“It is worthy to note that no U.S. food organization endorses the consumption of pokeweed regardless of how it is prepared,” states https://delishably.com. “With proper precaution, sickness due to pokeweed is unlikely. In comparison, handling a piece of pork that happens to contain a particularly bad strain of trichinosis is arguably more dangerous.”

For those wishing to sample poke sallet without having to prepare it, the dish is always available and properly prepared at the Poke Sallet Festival.