It all started with Alicia Silverstone's new book, The Kind Diet, which I bought from www.amazon.co.uk last winter. I really enjoyed reading the first half of the book, which focuses on the benefits of a vegan lifestyle, and got quite inspired by Alicia's enthusiasm, inspite of being a longtime vegan (nine years, to be exact). The second half of the book is a series of recipes, some of which really got my interest, in particular those using seaweed, an ingredient I'd avoided up until then. I noticed one day that a few of her recipes called for burdock, a root I'd never heard about. It sounded like a very worthy plant though - Alicia (and others I' sure) touts it as a blood cleansing miracle worker, among other things.
My mind was set on finding some burdock to try out the recipes, so the first step was to find the French word for it so I could ask my local organic store it they carried it. I was told by them that they had heard of "bardane" (burdock) used for medicinal uses, but not for cooking with. Further investigation and a chance encounter with a botanist confirmed that burdock is considered a weed in France, and that therefore you can't buy it in stores, nor can you buy seeds for it (who would want to sow weeds?) -- couldn't find any on the internet anyway.
At this point, I confess that I became a bit obsessed with the idea of getting a hold of some burdock somehow, even if it meant growing my own. After all, I have a vegetable garden, so why not? After a bit more research I found a company that sells burdock seeds online, but only ships them to the continental U.S. A stumbling block, yes, but not an insurmountable one. Coincidentally, my family and I were planning a trip to the States to visit family, so I had the seeds sent to Damon's aunt in Florida, and I collected them during our visit there. I felt like a true criminal with the seeds tucked in my luggage on the way back - would customs believe these were common weed seeds I was smuggling into French soil?
So on May 15th I planted my burdock seeds. The plants took beautifully to Provence's soil and sunshine, and in no time I had two rows of sturdy bright green leaves. The seed packet said it would take 100 days from sowing to to harvest, and that's all the information it gave. Today being close to day-100, I figured I should try and take some burdock from the garden. The endeavor proved more involved than I'd anticipated -- the roots are soooo deep! I finally brought out my big hoe, the one I reserve for major soil-turning, and wacked at the dirt surrounding the roots until I was able to get them out. Big job indeed!
Anyhow, back in the kitchen I chose the carrot/burdock kinpira recipe (a macrobiotic recipe) from Alicia's book and went for it. At this point, mind you, I've still never tasted burdock in my life, but am feeling a sense of anticipation and closeness toward the gnarled, wrinkled, brown radish-y things.
This day was a long time coming! The recipe came out real nice, and it was with a definite sense of reverence that I sat down for lunch. I so wanted to like it! After all, it isn't every day that I fly to a different continent to collect seeds for an obscure vegetable to plant in my garden so I can enjoy a recipe 100 days later. And the verdict? As much as I'd love to tell you it was worth it, it kinda wasn't. Burdock has a very rich but unusual taste, some may call it an acquired taste. I think I'll stick with parsnips, my alltime favorites!
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire