Rock Samphire

[Andy Hamilton]

Just found a source of Rock samphire I saw Ray Mears cooking eel with it, but as I am not a great eel lover I wonder if anyone had any other ideas of what to do with it?

[red]

never tried it - but it always seems to be served with fish.

if I found some, I would steam it and serve with butter.. so I could discover the simple flavour.

[9ball]

Well the girlfriend always goes on about how nice it is pickled - so I shall have to try and find some.
Found a nice looking recipe for it here http://uktv.co.uk/index.cfm/uktv/Food.r ... ID/517366/ and Mr Mabey has a recipe for rock samphire hash in food for free - which is a nice sauce with meat apparently.

Good luck!

Tom

[Hedgehogpie]

Pickled Samphire is the one most people remember, but with recipes you need to be a bit careful as Rock Samphire - Crithmum maritimum, is frequently confused with Marsh Samphire - Salicornia europaea (also known as Glasswort) and in many cases you may find the author doesn't make it very clear which they're referring to as they're both usually just called 'Samphire'.

I find Rock Samphire has a quite scented, almost lemony smell when cut or bruised, and I like the taste although some suggest the flavour has a hint of kerosene (I've been told that it is best to gather it before flowering or these oily/petroleum overtones become too much). It does make an excellent pickle though. In our area it grows around cliffs and sometimes on the shingle or tucked against sea walls.

Pfaf has this:
http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php ... +maritimum

Marsh Samphire is the short, weird knobbly green plant found on muddy salt marshes. It too is usually served with fish and also makes an excellent pickle - raw, it tastes fresh and salty, lightly steamed and served with butter, a sqeeze of lemon juice and a quick dash of fresh black pepper, it's rather like asparagus (the oval grey/green leaves of Sea Purslane are also good served this way and are found in the same sorts of areas).

Pfaf has this:
http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php ... a+europaea

They're both good plants for foraging.

[Daisy's Mum]

Near where I live (Norfolk Coast) Marsh Samphire grows in abundance, and is locally known as poor man's asparagus. I think this gives a fair indication of what it tastes like.

We collect it every year, although there is a thriving market for selling it on the roadside to tourists! (all because they can't get out of their cars to pick it themselves)

Lorna x

[Muddypause]

I lived near the Norfolk Coast for a few years, and inevitably did the samphire thing. TBH, I found it a bit of an aquired taste (which I never aquired). I found it very salty, and there is a trick to dragging the soft fleshy part of the stem through your teeth, to strip it off the inedible core of the stem.


Great fun colecting it, though. Apparently it is now illegal to pull it up by the roots, so you have to snip the stems.

[Millymollymandy]

I love Marsh Samphire but I don't know the other one. I have had it pickled and also cooked it myself by steaming.

[Hedgehogpie]

One of those plants you might just walk past on a shingly beach or see among rocks on cliffs without realising what it is.

Loads of pics of what you're looking for here:
http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en ... a=N&tab=wi

[Hedgehogpie]

Went down to the coast today & managed to get hold of a few seedheads from last years crop. Can't 100% vouch for their viability, but if anyone fancies trying to grow some PM me and I'll post a few out.

Se Pfaf fro tips on cultivation.
http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php ... +maritimum

[Jez]

I got some plants from Samphire Hoe in Dover yesterday. I tried boiling for ten minutes and then tossing in butter a'la Roger Phillips Wild Food recipe. I found that this was way too long to boil them. However, they did taste good with a lot of pepper. I would recommend using sparingly with lots of pepper to add flavour to an omlette or similar.

I am trying pickling some, thanks for the links to recipes.

[Hedgehogpie]

Maybe try steaming it lightly next time? That's what I do with mine.

I'm curious to know what you make of the flavour, both raw and cooked. It's totally unlike marsh samphire. The pickle I made a little while ago is still developing, but I'm quite pleased with how it tastes so far. Also had a crack at pickling some sea purslane, but I prefer it raw or steamed I think, as the flavour is rather nice. Pickling doesn't really do it justice.

[Jez]

I agree about sea purslane... It's really good sprinkled over roast veg... Yum!

Cooked, I found the flavour a bit too much, to be honest. It's one of those things (Like Alexanders or garlic) that aren't really OK on their own, but really enhance something else. Hence my advice to try it with an omlette. I also think it will make a great pickle.

What did you do to pickle yours?

Jez

[Hedgehogpie]

Literally just steamed them and covered with cider vinegar. Didn't add anything else, mainly because I want to see how the flavour develops first, tho' I may add a just little sugar at a later stage to take the edge off the vinegar.

Early days yet. I recon 4 weeks before it'll be worth trying properly. Have you ever done pickled elder buds?

[Dendrobium]

Pickled elder buds!?! Can you give us the recipie please Hedgehogpie? I have huge amount of elders near me, and I've got enough elderberry port to float a battleship, so that'll be an interesting alternative.

[Hedgehogpie]

Ok, I've cut and pasted this from the forum where I'd originally posted it:

"Elder bud pickle - (something to try while you wait for the blossom)
Collect enough elder buds to fill a small le parfait or kilner jar. Snip them off their stems down to small florets and wash thoroughly. Put into a saucepan with 1 tp Mace, 1 tsp peppercorns, 1 tsp seasalt and the pared and shredded rind of a lemon (try to avoid the bitter pith). Top up with the vinegar of your choice, white wine or cider, or even malt vinegar if you like the taste. Bring to a swift boil, and take immediately from the heat. strain off the liquid and allow it and the buds to cool separately (doing this stops the liquid from overcooking the buds). Put the buds into your sterilized jar (don't use one with a metal lid - as I said Le Parfait or Kilner with a plastic seal is best). Pour over the vinegar liquid - add or remove any of the spices as you prefer, and seal securely. Leave for a month or so to mature and develop the flavour.

This is a bit like pickled capers or nasturtium seeds, and would prob. go equally well with fishy dishes, but I like it as salad pickle variant in a ploughmans type meal. If the buds aren't overcooked, they should still have a crunchy texture. I don't tend make this in large amounts because I'm the only picklehead in our house. My version of the recipe has been tweaked with the addition of garlic and chilli - possibly not to everyones taste - but you can be bold and experiment!

Elder flower pickle - (haven't got round to trying this one yet - if you do, could you report back please!?)
Gather enough flowerheads to fill a smallish jar (as above). Shake them lightly to remove unwanted guests, give them a light rinse, and snip down to smallish florets. Fill your jar. Boil some white wine or cider vinegar and pour over the flowers in the jar. Pop the lid on loosely and leave for an hour to cool, then strain off the vinegar and use the florets in a tossed salad. Keep the vinegar for another occasion.

I also know that soft, young green Elder shoots can be cooked and served rather like asparagus, but again I've not got round to trying it yet."

Another thing I have is a recipe for Elder Ointment that I found on the web, it's supposed to be very good indeed - but can't remember where the recipe came from, so apologies to the person who posted it but thanks too!.

It goes like this:

This is the time of year I find best for making Green Elder Ointment, here is the recipe

Also called `oil of swallows' as you make it in the spring, when the
swallows return! I try to make some between the time the Elder trees
leaf and the flowers are just ready to come out, but a few weeks late
does not seem to matter. Pick all fresh ingredients on a dry day.

Ointments have two parts, the active ingredients and the base. I use
solid vegatable oil for the main base, (the Trex type of stuff, use a
supermarkets own brand) and add a little glycerine, so that it is
slightly softer and easier to use. Solid veg oil goes into the skin
better than the oily bases of things like germaline, which just sits
there. Ok if licked as well.

Things to do

Find:

A selection of small jars, the ones on hotel breakfast tables for
jams are ideal. Wash.

An elder tree.

Pair of tights, pop sox etc.

Buy:
1 or 2 blocks of solid veg oil.
I small bottle glycerine, (comes in a bottle like food colouring)
This is not essential, just makes getting it out of the jar easier in
cold weather.

Some ounces of dried lavender flowers, I use a good hand scoop full per block. Should leave you enough left over for sewing little
sachets for Christmas presents!

Ditto of dried comfrey leaves if you have not got any plants of the
stuff. If you haven't, let me know, I am trying to hack it back and
will give you plants.

How to make.

Pick around half a carrier bag of leaves, this should be plenty. Take
them off the stalks but don't get picky. Flower buds are ok,

Pick about half quantity fresh comfrey to fresh elder.

Heat a large saucepan, give yourself some room here. Melt oil. Add
some fresh leaves.

NOTE: You are not frying stuff. If things start to crisp, oil is
way too hot. You want it clear looking, but no smoke coming off.
Fresh leaves should go into the oil and start looking sad and limp,
turning the oil gradually green as the active oils in leaves goes
into the base. If this is not happening, after say five minutes,
turn heat up.

After first handful of leaves looks like over cooked spinach, replace
with new leaves. You will need to do this over and over 'til oil
goes green

If you are using dried comfrey, do the elder first. You are looking for
oil to be a nice deep green colour. Add dried comfrey to this and
cook a bit longer, maybe five minutes, keep the heat down, be gentle
with it.

You will now have either a pan of green oil and a sad heap of cooked
leaves, (fresh comfrey option)

Or a pile of cooked elder and a pan full of green oil covered bits!
Don't worry

Make enough room for the lavender and let it fill the air with nice
pong. Five minutes cooking should extract oil,

Now stretch a tights foot over a bowl or jug, and spoon contents of
pan into it.

Oil will run through, but there is a lot of good stuff in with the
leaves. Wait until it is just cool enough to hold, and start
squeezing. This is really good for your hands, but watch out for the
heat inside, don't burn yourself. Things tend to get a bit messy at
this point. Don't waste any, scrape hands off into bowl. Don't
worry about the odd speck of leaf.

Now keep an eye on it, it will change colour as it starts to set.
When it is cool but still pourable, add glycerine, half bottle per
block of oil. Stir really well, (it tends to settle to bottom) and
pot up.

Reason for doing this.

Elder is a powerful wound cleaner, it gets gunk out amazingly. It
also seems to stop irritation, great with allergic problems.

Comfrey kick starts the healing system.

Lavender is an antiseptic, and stops the ointment smelling like bad
cabbage.

Use on well, everything. I have used it with success on eczema,
cuts, sores, boils, wounds, boy's knees, horses' heels, (greasy heel? My vet called it) invisible problems that children can see but you can't, dry skin, lab workers split skin (chemical reaction?), pigs, cats, dogs, and goats. A pot is always inside the porch, ready for any problems and has been for the last 18 years, since I started this. I must have given hundred of pots away. It is amazingly cheap and effective.

NOTE: on unco-operative animals, heat ointment in spoon over candle
until it just melts. Pour over wound. Gets them every time!

Take care with Elder as it's mildy toxic in raw form (that goes for the berries too!), but don't panic - if cooked as stated there is no problem. Check it out on Pfaf* for more info.

*Plants for a Future database: http://www.pfaf.org/