Cattail pollen can not only be used to prepare many delicious and long-lasting goods, such as pancakes and spaghetti, but it can also substitute flour altogether.
In the olden days, a nomadic Native American tribe, called the Mescalero Apache, even used cattail pollen for healing ailments of various kinds.
Cattail pollen is a great source of protein and lasts indefinitely, which is why you need it for your stockpile. Not only can this pollen be used to make pancakes and spaghetti, but it can also be used to make yummy cattail pollen biscuits that taste great and never expire.
Thankfully, summer is the best time to harvest this underrated staple, so you can easily go out and get some of your own cattail pollen to prepare these biscuits.
Where To Find Cattails
Cattail plants are easy to find. I live in a large city in the southeastern United States and was able to find a nice bunch in a swamp on a local trail near my home.
Related: How To Pickle Cattails For Long-Term Preservation
So don’t fret about having to go too far to find some cattail pollen.
It’s important to harvest the pollen before any rainy or windy weather travels through your area so your harvest won’t be ruined. Harvesting enough pollen for this recipe can take a while (approximately 30-45 minutes for me).
Though, I found the task soothing, since it gave me the chance to spend more time in nature on a lovely 70-degree day.
If you suffer from seasonal allergies and think they may be triggered by this harvest, it is best to wear a face mask and goggles while you collect the pollen.
What To Look For While Harvesting
Each cattail plant carries about one teaspoon of pollen, so you will need to harvest pollen from at least 24 cattail plants in total to reach your quota of pollen (½ cup) for this recipe.
To successfully harvest the pollen, you should know the anatomy of the cattail plant and which plants have pollen that is ripe for harvest. The brown oblong-shaped part of the plant is known as the “female seed” or “sheath” of the plant.
The faded yellow-brown end that is sprouting from the female seed is the “male pollen”, which is where you will get your pollen from.
The male pollen will be yellow, meaning it is covered in pollen. If you’re unsure whether the male pollen has pollen on it, you can give it a light flick or tap. If a small, yellow cloud of pollen emerges from it, then it has pollen that can be harvested.
How To Harvest Cattail Pollen
There are two methods of collecting cattail pollen. If you’re in a rush, you can take a pair of garden shears and cut the male pollen from the sheath of the plant, place all of your male pollens in a bag (preferably a paper bag or large zip-lock bag) and collect the pollen from them once you get home.
The aforementioned method is not very good for the environment, so I typically use a different method (although it takes a little more time) to leave some pollen for the ecosystem. Garden shears are not necessary for this method.
⇒ How To Harvest And Eat Cattails, The Ultimate Survival Swamp Food
All you will need is a bag of any size (I used a paper bag). To harvest the pollen, gently take the male pollen and bend it over into your bag. Then, shake the pollen off of the male pollen and into the bag.
This method is more eco-friendly than cutting the tail off and taking it home. This way, there will still be pollen left for the environment.
Once you have harvested your pollen and returned home, there may be fibers or clumps in your pollen. Use a strainer to sift out the fibers and separate them from the pollen.
The Ingredients You Will Need
Now that the hard part is out of the way, it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty.
Most of the short list of ingredients you will need for this recipe consists of items most people already have in their pantries, which makes this recipe simple and affordable.
- ½ cup of cattail pollen
- 4 tsp of baking powder
- 1 ½ cups of flour (unbleached)
- ½ tsp of salt
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ¾ cup of water
How To Bake The Cattail Pollen Biscuits
1. Set your oven to preheat at 450 degrees. Grab a small or medium mixing bowl and pour your cattail pollen, unbleached flour, salt, and baking powder inside. Then, mix these ingredients together.
2. Slightly melt your butter, then stir it into the bowl until some clumps begin to appear in the mixture.
3. Mix the water into the mixture until it turns to dough. If it is still too dry, you can add ¼ cup of water or more to moisten it into dough.
4. Flour a cutting board. Then, place your dough onto the board and gently knead it into an elliptical shape. It should be about 1 inch wide.
5. Cut the dough into 1-inch sections. Then, place them onto a cookie sheet.
6. Coat your biscuits in melted butter.
7. Bake your biscuits for 11-12 minutes or until they are golden brown.
You definitely won’t want these savory treats to go to waste. Thankfully, cattail pollen biscuits are quick and easy to store because of their natural ingredients and lack of sugar.
To give your biscuits a shelf-life of two to three years, place them in a zip-lock bag or an airtight container. You can also throw an oxygen absorber inside the bag or container.
Or if you are using a zip-lock bag, you can vacuum-seal the bag. Finally, keep your biscuits in a cool, dry place for whenever you are ready to eat them again.
⇒ How To Make Survival Bars At Home And Add Them To Your Stockpile
if you don’t have a cattail patch nearby – but a great candidate pond for one – think about some guerilla gardening – transplanting “plugs” of cattail is eazy enough ……
I assume the Mescalero Apache had other ways if they wanted to actually consume the pollen, not having flour and baking soda and such.
Generally they also grew corn, even though nomadic, they planted their corn in spring and went off on their travels wending their way back to the planting in time to harvest (dried corn off the plants) and then to their wintering spot, planting the next years crop before leaving. Soups and strws, and certain grasses that were ground to make cakes, would have been a delivery method.
They probably used cattail when the Feds imprisoned the entire Mescalero population at Bosque Redondo, a stand of woods along the Rio Grande, 1863-68. The army gave them a bit of flour and spoiled bacon, hundreds starved to death. Watch out for the government.
And the recipe calls for flour, anyway. What is the use of this?
From the article: “In the olden days, a nomadic Native American tribe, called the Mescalero Apache, even used cattail pollen for HEALING AILMENTS of various kinds.” Emphasis added.
I’d rather eat one of the several hundred boxes of Jiffy Corn muffin mix that I have vac sealed. Either that or a cats assh*le. Which sounds better than eating catstail. You southern saxons are savages!
I am a Northern bred, born and raised and have been using cattails in all forms as edibles since I was a kid, I wasn’t something my family did, it was learned from study after learning about some wild edibles in Boy Scouts. If you don’t want to eat this type of thing, or Aden interested in this sort of subject why are you even reading about it? Possibly you are just someone that likes to ridicule others for your personal enjoyment. Your comment was ignorant and of no use to the response section of this article, as well as offensive to Southern people.
That thumbs down was an accident while scrolling. I’m proud of what you said. Tell him good luck with the jiffy mix. It has sugar and goes rancid in about 3 months. He just wasted a lot of money.
better be checking on those bakery pre-mixes >>> alllll kinds of confirmed results that parts of the mix fail and are not advisable for long term storage ….
I am not offended. I like to think that if someone is repulsed by cattail they will leave it for me or others. We won’t be starving any time soon. It has nothing to do with the North or the South. It’s more common sense to me. If you have a weak stomach, good luck with your jiffy. I am sure it will go rancid at some point. 🙂
60 years ago when I was a child in central Florida my grandfather would harvest cattails and soak them in kerosene. They made great, long lasting tiki lamps!
I look forward to trying them in biscuits. Thank you for the article.
wouldn’t it be cool if people across N America especially the ‘dry’ areas – made artificial ponds to plant cattails for ‘back-up’ food sources. Mind you it would need be near a water source but plant it and just check once in a while ensure it’s not died – so an alternative food source exists. Indigenous peoples use to plant Sunchokes along trails as food sources. We should have a back-up plan in place since each day is not guaranteed.
try some lotus to.
Cattail root are also edible, providing carbohydrates. Good if you’re on the go.
Giant reed Arundo donax , is an invasive species that has taken over most cattail habitat in the Southwest. Like kudzu, Johnson grass, and salt cedar it was introduced by the idiots we call Federal Government who were just trying to do some good. Happily giant reed can be utilized in much the same way as bamboo and cattail.
But be careful! We live on a pond loaded with cattails! But it’s also a catchment basin for field and street run-off! Lot of pollution! Unless you’re in true wilderness I personally wouldn’t trust they’re safe to consume.
I don’t worry much about over harvesting either. At least in my area of the eastern woodlands cattails will eventually dry up a pond or swampy area, and we actually dig them out occasionally just to keep our ponds from silting up. I suppose it might depend on your specific area though. Good eats though. Can make dough out of the roots too.
Look up, BACKWOODS HOME MAGAZINE, issue 43, Jan/Feb 1997.
THE INCREDIBLE CATTAIL.- THE SUPER WAL-MART OF THE SWAMP!
Born and bred in Southern Australia, one can’t get more Southern than here, Tasmania or Antarctica. North Americans have so much to be thankful for in regards to some beautiful natural resources and Indigenous knowledge. So embrace it. We in Australia must do more to recognize our indigenous plants, people and their benefits. Once lost, there’s no back up. Cheers.😎
It’s worrisome that whom everyone runs this site allows lunatics
to make such offensive comments.
I’ve mentioned in the past that AskAPrepper has become the
laughing stock of the Internet prepper blogosphere.
Raven Piece of Shit and Piece of Shit Frank DeMarco can’t make it on any other site and they know it.That is why they
stay here because no one in management has the balls to ban
them.
There was a time when Michael and West Coast Chuck would
defend them under the guise of freedom of speech but now
they are silent.
I think that Raven Piece of Shit and Piece of Frank DeMarco
are one in the same.Same Psychosis and writing style.
Maybe the site advertisers should take a look and decide if they
want to pay for this kind of garbage.
Chuck, so what makes you and improvement on Raven and Frankie?
Can you use some Google-Fu and find something easy to post showing you actually add to a comment?
Freedom of speech is something mentioned in the 1st Amendment of the Constitution. It’s something socialists have been trying to smother for decades.
Well by golly Michael you are still alive and kicking.I was afraid
that you had fallen down the rabbit hole into the world of
woke. You know the place where you can say anything no matter how offensive it may be.
Raven and Frank DeMarco are truly pieces of shit. Then there
are the spineless weak kneed weenies that need to cower in
their safe room afraid to call out villains.
Some of your comments while overly verbose have good points
however I don’t recall any articles listing you as author.
Chuck, have you authored an article here?
Put up or shut up.
Michael you know that I don’t author articles but I do read and
learn from the good ones.I give credit where credit is do and I can’t tolerate rudeness in some comments.
So that being said I will never comply with your request to shut
up. Get used to it. Your blood pressure will thank you.
My blood pressure is fine thank you for the false concern.
So, you never written an article, so far seem proud never to add anything useful to the thread aside from calling names at various bad actors.
This site must be like therapy for you. Well, at least it’s free 🙂
Go in peace. I shall ignore you from now on.
My uncle and I picked cattails, I think. Here in Arkansas, I haven’t seen any.