Sea Kale in Season

SEA KALE (Crambe Maritima). 
Available from Glasrai and Goodies in Gowran.

A native Irish plant that grows on shingle beaches - so not to be found in County Kilkenny. It has become quite rare in the wild, so be sure to use only cultivated plants.

Sea Kale ready to be picked.

In prehistoric times, before the domestication of cereal crops, the root was an important source of carbohydrates, for the hunter-gatherer. The whole plant can be eaten, but usually it is the blanched young shoots, with their slightly nut like flavour, that are most sought after. In the past, shingle was heaped up around wild plants, growing along the edges of such beaches. This had the effect of blanching the plants.

Peron, J.Y., Gouget, M., Declercq, B., 1991 in their Composition nutritionnelle du Crambe Maritime reveal that Sea Kale not only tastes great but has a high protein and fibre content, a high quantity of potassium/low sodium and excellent calcium/phosphorus ratio, and contains good vitamins such as thiamine (Vitamin B1).

Freshly picked Sea Kale, showing blanched shoots and unblanched leaves.

In 1827, John M'Craith, a Kilkenny nurseryman, advertised Sea Kale plants for sale, alongside "Stove and Greenhouse Exotics". In 1834, specimens were successfully exhibited, from the Bishop of Ossory's gardens, by Mr. Monk (who, presumably, was the Bishop's head gardener), at the Kilkenny Horticultural Society's show.

It was a great favourite of the Victorians and Edwardians, but the vogue for Sea Kale declined with the demise of the walled vegetable garden.

Cooked blanched Sea Kale (top) and cooked unblanched Sea Kale leaves (below).

HOW TO COOK

Drop into boiling salted water and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, until just tender. Drain pour melted butter over and sprinkle a little chopped parsley and serve. 

Young, unblanched leaves are pleasant to eat, if cooked in a similar manner, but lack the subtle nuances of the paler shoots.

Such a delicious vegetable deserves greater recognition, easily cooked, is worthy of further culinary exploration. 

Email: kilkennyseakale@gmail.com

St. Patrick's Day Salad

A WILD & SEASONAL, GREEN SALAD FOR ST. PATRICK'S DAY

Watercress, Sorrel and Wild Garlic Salad.

A salad composed of plants readily available in St. Patrick's time, that have would have been well known by anyone living in Ireland, in the 5th century AD. We forget that so many of our common 21 st century vegetables and salad plants are comparatively recent introductions to Ireland and would have been unknown to our ancestors.

The days are lenghtening, tender wild spring greens, packed with vitamins and other goodies are emerging. The slugs have beaten me to the sorrel, but there are still enough new shoots for a tasty St. Patrick's Day salad.

Wild Kilkenny Garlic

The young, wild garlic (Allium ursinum) grows in profusion in County Kilkenny, in hedgerows and on the woodland edges. Look out for the distinctive garlic smell, as you crush it under foot. A few well chosen leaves is all that is required, or alternatively break up the leaves and rub the inside of the salad bowl with them.

Sorrel

Sorrel (Rumex acetosa) , like spinach, contains oxalic acid, so it is best eaten when young. It has a slightly bitter but pleasant taste. Sorrel can be used in sauces and soups. Not to be confused with the shamrock-like leafed wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosella)), which has a similar flavour. 

Watercress

Be careful when picking watercress (Nasturtium officinale), make sure that your source is a clean one, watercress can act as a host to Fasciola Hepatica more commonly known as liver fluke. The water in the watercourse, should be clean, fast flowing and away from animals. Boiling will kill the fluke larvae, but it is best avoided, if you suspect the watercress might be infected. It is easily grown at home under controlled conditions.

St. Patrick's Day Salad on a bed of Shamrock

RECIPE
For a St. Patrick's Day Salad, pick the young leaves (go easy on the garlic - unless you like a very strong flavour), wash them well and place in the salad bowl and add a little honey and some apple verjus and you have a salad that St. Patrick would recognise.

Email: kilkennyseakale@gmail.com

Chervil Soup

CHERVIL SOUP, WITH LEEKS & POTATOES
Chervil (Anthriscus Cerefolium). An easily grown, aromatic, spring herb with a subtle aniseed flavour. Delicious with eggs, ham and in soups, at a time of year when other fragrant herbs, like tarragon, are out of season. 

Chervil, a cousin of the carrot and of parsley, probably introduced from
south west Russia and/or south eastern Europe.

INGREDIENTS FOR CHERVIL SOUP

Leeks, sliced potatoes, homemade stock and a large fistful of Chervil.

Chervil, Leeks & Pink, Fir Apple Potatoes

CHERVIL SOUP RECIPE

To make Chervil Soup, sweat sliced leeks until soft, then add sliced potatoes (in this case, Pink Fir Apple potatoes were used, no need to peel them). Add stock and cook until the potatoes are soft, then add a large handful of chopped, bruised chervil. 

Cook for a couple of minutes, then whizz to the desired consistency and correct the seasoning.

Chervil Soup

Serve in warmed bowls with a little organic Irish yogurt and a sprinkle of chopped chervil. If bruised before use, it will release its flavour more readily, makes an interesting replacement for parsley. 

Email: kilkennyseakale@gmail.com

Sea Kale on the first day of Spring

The Sea Kale plants were checked today to ensure that all was well and that the pesky slugs had not launched an attack.

Blanched young Sea Kale shoots

The plants have spent the winter under terracotta pots, excluded from all light. The new blanched shoots are beginning to sprout and are doing well under their upturned pots. The shoots are blanched, not forced, and are allowed to develope in their own natural time.

In a few weeks time, they will be ready for cutting and they will be available for sale in Glasrai & Goodies shop in Gowran, County Kilkenny.

Look out for them so you can eat them when freshly cut.
Email: kilkennyseakale@gmail.com

Purple Sprouting Broccoli

A delicious, welcome spring vegetable that even the most incompetent Kilkenny gardener can grow, provided they have a sheltered spot. A descendant of the wild cabbage, found in the Eastern Mediterranean, and a cousin of the cauliflower.  Gradually, it evolved into the vegetable that we now know as, Purple Sprouting Broccoli, and made its way up through Italy into Northern Europe and thus to Ireland in the early eighteenth century.

Purple Sprouting Broccoli waiting to be picked

Not to be confused with the Italian Calabrese that is commonly seen in our supermarkets, the Purple Sprouting Broccoli has a fresher, more delicate flavour and melts in the mouth when cooked.

A welcome green vegetable at a time of year when edible, seasonal, greenery, locally grown is difficult to find. The small purple heads are made up of tiny flower buds on little stems, these are picked and eaten before they open.

Purple Sprouting Broccoli waiting to be cooked

Traditionally, after picking they were tied into small bunches and placed in boiling water standing up, so that the stems were in the water and the heads were steamed. If life is too short for such niceties, just throw them into boiling water, for not more than 5 minutes, or steam them, until barely tender.

Steaming Purple Sprouting Broccoli waiting to be eaten

The shorter the time between picking and eating vegetables, the more flavoursome they will be and the more nutritous they are. So, try and source locally grown vegetables, snap them up whenever they appear in your local shop, cook them as soon as you can, then they will be squeaky fresh when you taste them.

Email: kilkennyseakale@gmail.com