The skunk cabbage, as mentioned in this tale, is quite an innocuous-looking thing. In fairness, if prepared correctly it isn’t much of a problem at all.

To prepare it, boil the cabbage whole for an hour. Throw away the water. Do not use the water. Really, don’t, not even if you think it smells acceptable. Wash the cabbage in entirely different water, and then cut it up if you like. Cook it for a further three hours, at least. The results don’t taste of anything much, and tend to be sludgy.

Undercooking a skunk cabbage has consequences.

Inevitably, once children become aware of this, a certain percentage of them will set out to eat raw skunk cabbage, with the intention of causing olfactory distress to those around them. The results can be hideous. Sometimes of course the little dears eat far too much raw cabbage, or turn out to be more sensitive to it than anticipated.

The most usual outcome, aside from utter humiliation, is the necessity of burning anything the child happened to be wearing at the time. Quite possibly anything anyone near the child happened to be wearing at the time as well. Skunk cabbage smells do not wash out, or fade in a timely way.

(Text and image by Nimue Brown)