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EDIBLES WILD AND CULTIVATED
SOME NOTES ON EDIBLE WILDFLOWERS AND THEIR CULTIVARS compiled with the expert help of Ulrike Paradine
WINTER AND EARLY SPRING SALADS It is not widely known that the leaves of lesser celandine Ranunculus ficaria are edible, perhaps because there is a risk of confusing this plant with the unrelated Greater celandine Chelidonium majus, which is poisonous. Picked young, lesser celandine leaves are mild-tasting and will add variety to winter or early spring salads. They are also rich in vitamin C. The choice of cultivated forms with ornamental leaves and flowers is bewildering. The popular R.f. ‘Brazen Hussy’ with its rich, dark red leaves looks dramatic but one of our favourites for large, succulent pale leaves is R. f. ‘Chedglow’. It is important to pick only from fresh-looking plants before the flowers appear or very early in the flowering season, as the leaves become poisonous as plants go to seed. The flowers can also be eaten, but again it would be sensible to pick only the first of the season. The leaves of lesser celandines grown in pots usually start to show in October/November so can be picked early. In fact the golden rule with most wild greens is to pick only the youngest, tenderest leaves in late winter or early spring, when the plants are growing fast. Later in the season many leaves become unacceptably tough or bitter. March is probably the best time for dandelion leaves (Taraxacum officinale). Just a few young leaves on bread and butter are nice or try them in a bacon sandwich. Other plants to appreciate in later winter/spring salads are:
BITTER/PEPPERY - Autumn hawkbit (Leontodon autumnalis) – this is similar to dandelion but with delicately lobed leaves. We prefer dandelion for taste. - Hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta): the young leaves of this classic nuisance have a superb peppery flavour and are often available over winter - Nipplewort (Lapsana communis) – the young leaves have a bitter taste, try the purple-speckled cultivar ‘Inky’ for variety (see our Plant List). SWEETISH - Chickweed (Stellaria media) – this annual often overwinters and the young shoots taste rather like baby corn-cob - Primroses (Primula spp.) – the flowers are pretty in salads GARLICKY - Garlic mustard or Jack-by the-hedge (Alliaria petiolata) - can be picked from September to April -try the flowering shoots of this hedgebank biennial - they have a garlic flavour with an intriguing 'finish'. Delicious! - Ramsons or Bears garlic (Allium ursinum) – the leaves and flowers give a milder garlicky flavour than you’d think after a walk in the woods! DELICATE OR BLAND - Beech (Fagus sylvatica) – the silky bright green young leaves are edible in salads (but not super tasty in our opinion) - Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) – the youngest, smallest leaves are good, with a slightly nutty flavour - Greater plantain (Plantago major) – the tiny first leaves in spring are tender and good in salads or sandwiches - Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris) - the young leaves are tender in spring, if not with any special taste SHARP AND SOUR - Sorrel (Rumex acetosa ssp. acetosa) - the leaves have a sharp, tangy flavour. For added colour in a salad our variegated cultivar 'Saucy' has lovely coral pink-suffused young leaves; French sorrel R. scutatus is good and very decorative in the silvery pale-leaved form ‘Silver Shield’ - Wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosella) – a woodlander with bright lime green leaves in spring that taste as refreshing as they look. ANISEED - Sweet cicely (Myrrhis odorata) – the leaves are delicate, like cow parsley and have an aniseed flavour. The young seeds (while still green) are a good aniseed nibble later in spring - Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) – another feathery aniseed leaf. Try the bronze-leaved form too. INDIVIDUAL OR INDEFINABLE! - Perennial wall-rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) – this wild, possibly native rocket was found by Ulrike growing at Hythe Harbour. It packs in all the taste of the cultivated annual rockets and is a new addiction! - Cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) – the delicate leaves have an interesting flavour and striking colour in the purple-foliage cultivar ‘Ravenswing’ - Red deadnettle (Lamium purpureum) – the flowering shoots of this annual veg plot weed make a useful and colourful addition to salads
OTHER PLANTS GOOD IN SPRING SALADS include: - Violets and violas as in Viola riviniana, Viola odorata and cvs.; viola flowers - whether purple, blue, mauve or white - look very attractive in a green salad along with primrose flowers. - Spotted deadnettle (Lamium maculatum) – Ulrike’s favourite for beauty and taste is the plant found and named by Jill Butcher: L. m. ‘Brightstone Pearl’. The leaves are plain green (i.e. with no silver stripe) and the flowers are a pretty soft pink. The flowering shoots have a nice flavour like raw mushrooms! DON’T bother with the yellow-variegated cultivar ‘Golden Anniversary’: it tastes as foul as it looks (sorry to be rude)!
'EDIBLE' WILD PLANTS NOT RECOMMENDED BY US are: - Ladies smock, cuckooflower (Cardamine pratensis) – spit it out! - Wall pepper (Sedum acre) – as above, but faster!
WILD EDIBLES FOR COOKING Gourmet willowherb Michael Jordan (in A Guide to Wild Plants (Millington, 1976) reports that the leaves of Rosebay willowherb (Chamerion (syn. Epilobium angustifolium) are not worth cooking and recommends instead concentrating ‘on collecting young shoots in late spring. If these are gently baked in butter, like asparagus, they are really excellent!’ This has to be tried!
Nettle Soup March and April are good months to make nettle soup from the stinging nettle (Urtica dioica). Gather a colanderful of young nettle tops wearing a rubber glove on one hand and cutting them with scissors in the other. Wash them well and boil them in a little water (taking care that they do not boil dry) for about 10 minutes. Don’t be put off by the strange smell as they are cooking. Drain them very well, pressing out the liquor. Make a white sauce by gently cooking a rounded tablespoon of flour in a melted large knob of butter for a couple of minutes then slowly adding a pint of milk and simmering for a further minute. Pour this hot sauce, the drained nettles and (for extra flavour) a little chopped, sauteed onion into a food processor bowl and blend until smooth. Season to taste and reheat gently. Serve. The resulting soup has a rich, velvety texture and very appetizing fresh green colour. Even my eleven-year old daughter liked it. (We have yet to try this using any of the ornamental stinging nettles with spring variegated/coloured leaves).
Deep-fried dandelion flowers Ulrike recently experimented with deep-frying dandelion flowers in a light tempura batter and reports that they were superb. The only thing to remember is that the flowers close up in dull conditions - gather and cook them in the daytime, preferably when the sun is out!
IMPORTANT Only gather edible wild plant material from safe sources and wash well before use.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you have any favourite wild edibles/recipes please tell us!
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