Rotary Club cooks up Pioneer Picnic tradition

Although swamp cabbage doesn't have the most appetizing name, attendees of the Rotary Club annual Pioneer Picnic will testify that the dish is misunderstood — and actually quite delicious.

For 40 years, the club has included the Florida delicacy on its Pioneer Picnic menu, and this year, attendees can look forward to it again. 

Pioneer Picnic chairman emeritus Tim Herring recalls past years when the Rotary Club considered saving money and removing swamp cabbage from the menu. 

“It you drop it off, you might lose 50% of attendance,” says Herring. “No swamp cabbage, no attendance.”

Generations of Sarasotans attend the Pioneer Picnic each year for lunch and a chance to see familiar faces. It began as a way for families that have lived here for at least 50 years to come together and reminisce about how Sarasota has changed. For many attendees, it’s turned into a family reunion or Sarasota High School reunion of sorts. It’s also one of the few places they can get their hands on swamp cabbage or hearts of palm. 

The menu is designed to reflect what Florida natives and pioneers would have prepared. The origins of the dish date back to the state's earliest settlers finding a way to utilize cabbage palm or sabal palm into an edible dish. 

“I like it," says Herring. "It’s an acquired taste, like Brussels sprouts. It’s a little like regular cabbage but it’s kind of a substitute.”

Over the years, the menu has rotated dishes, such as smoked mullet, pulled pork, hush puppies, corn bread and rolls, but swamp cabbage has always been a constant. The recipe had been passed down from Earl Blackburn, a former Rotarian, and his family. Until Blackburn’s death, two years ago, he prepared the swamp cabbage according to the recipe. Since then, Rory Williams, of the Sarasota County Fairgrounds, has assumed the responsibility. 

The dish is essential enough that the entire event is planned around swamp cabbage; lunch only starts once the swamp cabbage is ready. 

“When the swamp cabbage is ready, we’ll start eating,” says Herring. “There's never any left over. This year, it will be separate from the prepared boxes, so that those who don’t want any can leave more for the swamp cabbage fans.”