Learning to love what you've got

[queneva]

Our somewhat difficult gardening conditions seem to grow wild fennel and mustard just fine, so let's see what we can do with our "weeds".

Foraging for and cooking wild fennel looks promising, with the penne/sausage/fennel mix of its Pasta con Finocchietto Selvatico e Salsiccia. I'm going to head to the butcher for some sausages to try in this.

The

Comments

[quatrefoil]

I'm not sure if your mustard is the same plant that we would gather when I was a child in England. If so, we would eat it raw as a salad leaf - principally in mustard and cress sandwiches. It's a bitey, peppery green, a bit like rocket, but moreso. You could also try wilting it in a pan with garlic, on the basis that most greens taste pretty good wilted in a pan with garlic.

Fennel bulbs make a good gratin with breadcrumbs and a parmesan.

[queneva]

I'm not sure, either: there seem to be different strains of mustard with different levels of pepperiness. My guess is that this is naturalised green-manure.

I'm all on board with mustard and cress sandwiches, although I'm used to the greens for them being delicate things grown indoors on damp tissue. The mustard we have as weeds is grown-up, hoary mega-mustard by comparison. Apparently it's all edible, though, so some experimentation may be in order, including the wilting with garlic idea.

Wild fennel tends not to form bulbs the way Florence fennel does. I will have a look to see if there's something vaguely bulbous in one of the larger stands for culinary experimentation, though.

[stephanie_pegg]

If ever you're in Sydney, you might be interested in this: http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/beauty/4783147/How-to-pick-your-scent

[queneva]

Oooh. Nice link. :)