Tassel Hyacinth - Lampascioni/Cipolline Selvatiche

Over the last few rainy days, in between showers downpours, I've seen a few of these lively, colourful little flowers. As I had no idea what they were, I set about trying to identify them as soon as possible. If you are also a plant nerd  you  will understand how frustrating it can be  sometimes trying to  identify flowers, leaves or  plants.                                                                     

I had spied these flowers before, but only ever seen a few in hedgerows, here there was a huge colony. Eventually I found a book that could help me "Wild Flowers of the Mediterranean" by Neil Fletcher.  I discovered that they are called  Muscari Comosum (Hyacinthus Comosum or Leopoldia Comosa). In English the common name is Tassel Hyacinth)

I didn't expect them to be edible. They don't look as if they could be  in my trusted list of wild edibles.

I was very surprised when I realized that the bulbs are edible and considered a delicacy in the South of Italy, especially in Puglia and also Greece. I had to laugh when I read the entry for the tassel hyacinth at pfaf.org  "A slightly bitter taste that is appreciated by certain ethnic groups, especially Greeks and Italians".

They are boiled and added to recipes or boiled and preserved in oil. I've eaten them a few times, but had no idea what the plant looked like.

They are known as " Lampascioni"or "Cipolline Selvatiche" (wild baby onions) and look like pickled onions. They are crunchier than pickled onions and have a pungent, peppery, slightly bitter taste. My husband loves them. I don't mind them in recipes with other ingredients, but I find them quite strong tasting to eat on their own. They should be gathered in early Spring when the first leaves appear.

Further reading and recipes @
theshepherdandtheolivetree (roasted wild hyacinth bulbs)
blog.italian-connection.com (wild hyacinth bulbs preseved in oil and vinegar)
theatlantic.com (Greek lentil soup with wild hyacinth bulbs)

Poppy Leaf Lasagne (Papaver Rhoeas)

Red poppies are beginning to line the fields and roadsides now. Last year I collected petals to make a liqueur. It was a great success and really improved with time.  Hopefully the weather will dry up so that I collect some more this year.

Thinking about poppies has reminded me that I experimented with the leaves a little while ago, but forgot to post about it.  Young poppy leaves (basal rosettes, before flower formation) are also used as a spring green here in Italy and you can sometimes find them at Farmers' Markets. They are good  eaten  cooked as a spinach alternative.

young poppy leaves

they become longer and more pointed as the plant grows

Cross section of the stem (hairy) and basal rosette

This recipe comes from a book by Davide Ciccarese "Cucinare Le Erbe Selvatiche"(Cook Wild Plants)

Poppy Leaf Lasagne (Lasagne al Papavero)

Wash the leaves well and cook until tender in salted water. 

Drain and squeeze out excess water.

Add the ham cut into small squares.

Cut for a few minutes in the butter

Make a beschamel sauce;
Melt a little butter and oil  in a pan, sift in the flour and stir (I used less flour, it depends how you like beschamel- you could also use a readymade sauce), adding the milk a little at a time to obtain a smooth sauce. Cook for a few minutes until it thickens. Add the eggs and half of the cheese(grated).  Season to taste. Mix well.







Use a lasagne dish or foil  dish and make layers of pasta/ poppy/ham/ beschamel sauce.







Push the sauce to the corners of the dish.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese on the top.

Cook at 180° for 45 mins or until cooked
 (the recipe says 20mins, but I think that would be ok for fresh pasta not readymade)
If the lasagne becomes to dry you can pour a little milk over it and replace in the oven for a few minutes.
Finish it off under a hot grill to get a golden topping.

notebook page from www.shabbyblogs.com

Italian herbs for Italian dishes

I went to my local garden centre this afternoon to buy a few flowers and compost. 

I also looked at the herb section and was pleased to see cooking tips on the herbs....

shared @
natural-living-monday
wildcrafting-wednesday
eat-make-grow-blog-hop-may-picnics.

The Dangers of Wild Asparagus

I didn't think foraging  for wild asparagus was a particularly dangerous passtime, but after my last foray I must admit that I have changed my mind. 

It's not easy finding wild asparagus in northern Italy.  It does grow abundantly, but it's highly sought after and if you don't find it straight away, it's too late, someone else  will have it. A few days ago my local fruit vendor told me she'd heard the season had started.

Asparagus bushes/plants like to grow in wooded, shady areas and the fields near my house are lined with wooded areas. They also grow in hedges and along walls sometimes.

One afternoon, I popped into the nearby woody area to see for myself. I know where the plants are. The "mother" plants are low ferny/prickly bushes. I left my son studying at home and wandered out in my "crocs",  without my  phone, but with my camera and just a small cotton bag. 

Yes, it was true, asparagus was sprouting. Can you spot the spear in the above photo? It's not that easy to see straight away, you  have to focus hard and get "a feel" for it. Asparagus grows upright as if searching for sunspots in the shade.

 I wasn't the first person to have been to that spot, recently someone else had found some new shoots.

Someone else got this one too

I recently read a report from an Italian hospital about people being admitted after eating plants that had been mistaken for asparagus. It's quite interesting as some of the plants don't resemble asparagus at all. However here in Italy other long shoots are often eaten at this time of the year, for example Hops, Black Byrony and Taveller's Joy (which becomes toxic later on in the year).  I think the  report merits a separate post.

This long shoot hanging over the asparagus bush does look a bit like asparagus (I think it's black bryony).  Maybe it's edible, but I definitely wouldn't want to risk eating  it.

Back to my personal forage. As I was happily snapping off asparagus tips I managed to trip over a branch and hit the ground with a thump. Luckily,  only my pride was hurt even though I was a bit shaken, but it did make me reflect on what an idiot I had been. No-one knew where I was (even if I was close to home) and I didn't have a phone.

After my initial enthusism, I found that I had lost my appetite for asparagus and  went home with my small bunch feeling rather depleted. The thoughts going through my mind could have been from the list of dos and don'ts that you normally find at the beginning of a foraging book. "Wear suitable shoes/clothes" "Forage in company" or at least "Tell someone where you are going" "Take a phone" etc etc.

When I arrived home I put the asparagus (it wilts very quickly) in the fridge, attended to a few scratches and went to check on my son's homework revision. While  I was sitting on the sofa in his room torturing  him with questions from his text book,  he suddenly shouted "Mum, get off my sofa, you're full of ticks!"
I looked down at my jeans, he was right, there were at least three of them scampering over my legs.
I shot up and charged into the garden (my son's room  has a patio-door ) and stripped to my underwear.
I didn't stop to worry about the fact that my neighbour was in the garden and then ran to the shower.

Later on, when I was sure I didn't have any little beasties sucking my blood, I returned outside to check my clothes. I found five ticks on them,  maybe others had wandered off into the garden.

Do you have ticks in your zone? The local authority here has even issued an information leaflet, attenzione_alle_zecche, as there has been an increase of Lyme Disease, which can be contracted from the bite of ticks. If you have a dog, maybe you have seen them when they are full of blood. They are disgusting! We have had to remove ticks from our dog in the past and our kids when they were younger, luckily they never got sick. A friend's older daughter caught the disease after a country romp. She hadn't even realized that she had been bitten.

Back to my asparagus.  I just steamed it for a few minutes and served it with oil and lemon juice.

It  was actually very  bitter tasting and even my husband (who normally loves bitter)  didn't eat it.

I think it's best to use it in a sauce or risotto. It also makes stinkier pee than the cultivated variety.

Next time.............??

Asparagus plants can be male or female. The female  plants produce small red berries which should not be eaten as they are  poisonous.

November 2012