Plomeek was flowering plant native to Vulcan, most notable for its use in Vulcan cuisine, particularly as the basis for plomeek soup. (TOS episode: "Amok Time"; etc.)
Specifics[]
Plomeek was grown both decoratively and for harvesting at many homes. Gardeners often removed spent flowers before they bore fruit to spur growth of more flowers. Ripe fruit from the plant was served with breakfast meals and also included in various dishes. (ST reference: The Star Trek Cookbook)
- In ENT novel: Beneath the Raptor's Wing, Trip Tucker quoted a "Terran" proverb: 'Never pick a plomeek before it's ripe.' If this represents an actual truism (whatever its origin) and was not simply a facetious retort, it also supported the notion that after flowering, the plomeek plant bears a ripening seed-carrier fruit.
History[]
Plomeek plants were common in Vulcan gardens. In the 2150s T'Les grew the plants in her household garden at her residence near ShiKahr's northernmost boundary, as did the Vulcan Diplomatic Compound in Sausalito in its courtyard garden (in the latter case, subtly genetically modified to better grow in San Francisco Bay's climate). (ENT novel: Beneath the Raptor's Wing)
Plomeek was also one of many fruit and vegetable crops grown on the agricultural colony The Armada. In 2365 The Armada's plomeek crops were ruined after being treated with a sabotaged formula of chroniton particles. (TNG comic: "Space Seeds")
In 2360, Quark was left on Terok Nor by his disgruntled shipmates who accused him of poisoning their food. They left the amateur cook with his supposedly "poison food", some which were crates of pickled plomeek.(ST - Terok Nor novel: Dawn of the Eagles)
- Plomeek soup has also been described as a "bland seaweed broth" in VAN novel: Precipice, implying that plomeek is some form of aquatic plant. While this does not directly contradict other references, descriptions of the plomeek plant in other sources do not mention the sort of water-management systems that would be needed to cultivate an aquatic plant in household gardens on Vulcan. Alternatively, the "seaweed" mentioned in the passage is not plomeek but some unnamed plant, with plomeek serving some other major role in the soup recipe.