Thursday 14 April 2011

Alexanders


A couple of posts ago I showed a picture of what I know by the name of wild Welsh Angelica. I posted the same picture onto a foraging homepage asking for more information. I now know that this plant is known as Alexanders or Roman Parsley. Like Angelica, it is not native to the UK, instead it was introduced by the Romans and has naturalised over the years and now grows like a common weed all over Britain. Especially near the coastline.

The entire plant is edible. The young reddish stalks are meant to taste beautiful gently sauted in butter having an asparagus like taste. The older stems can be used in a similar fashion to angelica stalks. The leaves and flowers are edible in salads and the roots can be eaten like parsnips.

I found a recipe for Pickled Alexanders Buds on the Eat Weeds Blogs and have made up a jar. Will let you know how they taste when I open them :)

11 comments:

Valerianna said...

Angelica is one of my favorites in the garden- such majesty! She and the teasel are what a friend calls "lurid spectacles" when blooming. I love how all kinds of insects live on both plants... Not familiar with Alexander, wonder how it will taste?

Jasmine said...

Yes, Angelica is fabulous. I have some in my garden that was a gift from my dad. I've not tried cooking with it before but my dad does some tasty things with angelica. I'm planning on eating some alexanders tonight. Will let you know what it tastes like x

Caio Fern said...

wow ! i want this !!!!
i loved to see it !

Barb said...

Great post, Jasmine. I always love getting the story behind the story, so to speak. Angelica has a wonderful story and even a recipe, too!

Martine said...

Bon appetit.............
XXXm

rose AKA Walk in the Woods - she/her said...

Thank you *so* much for sharing the pickle link ~ I am definitely going to be giving this a go once they're up and budding!

Tammie Lee said...

when I was 13 I found a book called "eat the weeds", I bought it and have never stopped eating weeds. I have never heard of this one... yum

Kris said...

What a totally fabulous plant! Thanks for sharing this.

t said...

hey jasmine, thanks for that link...i have been eating weeds for a while now and have found sheeps sorrel packed with vitamins. please let us know what your jar turns out like....

xt

Anonymous said...

looks tasty..how was it?

xx

Mike said...

Would be interested to know how this tasted. I was pretty excited about trying my first Alexanders earlier this year, but thought they tasted like cheap soap (I just steamed the stems like Asparagus). Hope your pickle worked out a bit better!