# Kale-cooked, it's fine. Raw kale bothers the inside of my mouth **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 21, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kale-cooked-its-fine-raw-kale-bothers-the-inside-of-my-mouth/705286 "2014-11-21T19:53:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kale-cooked-its-fine-raw-kale-bothers-the-inside-of-my-mouth/705286/1 "2014-11-21T19:53:06Z")
Anyone else? It feels like it’s causing 1000 micro-cuts to the inside of my mouth; a creepy sensation and these days they (who? I dunno-deli’s, restaurants) seem to want to stuff raw kale into everything. What is this sensation? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kale-cooked-its-fine-raw-kale-bothers-the-inside-of-my-mouth/705286/2 "2014-11-21T20:38:13Z")
Is it actually scratching or abrading you or does it feel like you’re having a reaction to it. Foods that, when raw, make your mouth (or throat or lips) itchy but don’t do it when cooked is a classic sign of Oral Allergy Syndrome. Does anything else do that to you? If it is OAS, it’s usually a bunch of things, usually all from [one of these lists](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_allergy_syndrome#Cross_reactions). ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kale-cooked-its-fine-raw-kale-bothers-the-inside-of-my-mouth/705286/3 "2014-11-21T22:10:03Z")
I don’t know where the idea originated that kale is good to eat raw. It isn’t, unless your goal is to strengthen your jaw muscles. It’s leathery and fibrous. I really like the stuff cooked, but to me it’s nearly inedible raw. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kale-cooked-its-fine-raw-kale-bothers-the-inside-of-my-mouth/705286/4 "2014-11-21T22:15:21Z")
Kale, like spinach, is high in oxalic acid. Some people report a weird or unpleasant mouth-feel during and after eating raw spinach. Maybe your weird experience has to do with this? ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kale-cooked-its-fine-raw-kale-bothers-the-inside-of-my-mouth/705286/5 "2014-11-21T22:28:50Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > Kale, like spinach, is high in oxalic acid. No, it isn’t. [Here’s a chart](http://www.ohf.org/docs/OxalateContent092003.pdf) showing the oxalate content of various foods (Warning: PDF). Spinach has over 50 milligrams of oxalate in a 30-gram serving. Kale has only between 2 and 10 milligrams of oxalate in a 65-milligram serving. ---
**Author:** ![tenacious\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kale-cooked-its-fine-raw-kale-bothers-the-inside-of-my-mouth/705286/6 "2014-11-21T22:55:06Z")
Agreed! I don’t get a reaction to it, but I don’t like it raw either. Our store carries the curly kind, that seems to have a thousand sharp edges. Even when I chew it well, every few bites, my throat is scratched by one of those damn pointy, curly bits. Shame, too. Cooked in a soup or even chips, it’s not a bad little leaf. I have heard that massaging it with avocado helps, but I’m just not motivated to try that hard to make something inedible slightly less inedible. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kale-cooked-its-fine-raw-kale-bothers-the-inside-of-my-mouth/705286/7 "2014-11-21T23:11:14Z")
I agree, it’s just fine cooked but no thanks on the raw. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kale-cooked-its-fine-raw-kale-bothers-the-inside-of-my-mouth/705286/8 "2014-11-21T23:26:33Z")
Its good raw in salads but you have to cut it right. But then, I kinda like the chewyness of it. Still, it is better sauteed with a little olive oil and balsamic. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2014, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kale-cooked-its-fine-raw-kale-bothers-the-inside-of-my-mouth/705286/9 "2014-11-21T23:30:54Z")
I like kale (and greens in general) cooked, but raw is indeed chewy and fibrous. I’ve read some raw-food articles on [massaging kale](https://www.google.com/search?q=massaging+kale&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=sb) before eating it, which seems vaguely creepy and unnecessary. It’s a fine green cooked. In fact I’m probably going to saute some tonight and have it topped with eggs and labne. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2014, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kale-cooked-its-fine-raw-kale-bothers-the-inside-of-my-mouth/705286/10 "2014-11-22T01:51:36Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > I’ve read some raw-food articles on [massaging kale](https://www.google.com/search?q=massaging+kale&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=sb) before eating it, which seems vaguely creepy and unnecessary. I had a “massaged kale” dish at some friends house a month or two ago and found it surprisingly palatable. Surprising to me anyway because I’m another one that finds raw kale kinda unpleasant ( don’t much like non-tender raw greens generally, though I like most all of them all cooked ).