#SoCS — Oc(a)

This week’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday comes to you from the letter O and C and an idea perpetuated by Linda G Hill.  Additional support can be found at The Friday Reminder for SoCS, January 19.

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Varieties of Oca from Pintrest

Oca is the “oc” first word my computer dictionary (Wordweb) gave me.  Kind of obvious, really. What wasn’t obvious was that it was a traditional Andean food, though…  when you say the word, it feels right.

What I found interesting was that Oca is a kind of wood sorrel, the same group of plants commonly sold as Shamrocks (not the same as a true shamrock, which is actually a clover).  They do have pretty flowers, though the variety we find around here are very sour to the taste (from the oxalic acid in the plant, a mildly compound that can cause damage to the kidneys in high doses).

If you’re hungry though, it’s high in vitamin C and fiber and other nutrients.  The tubers are starchy (they weren’t imported to Europe as a substitute to the potato without reason).  Another common weed, like (the very tasty tubers of) nutsedge, that I explored for “survival foods” for a time when two of my characters must journey in the wilderness for a few years.

Oca…  it’s an interesting word.  It inspired a lot more thought than the first one that came to mind: occipital