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