Oseille

[idun]

Do any of you grow it and use it?

One of my favourite dishes is salmon a l'oseille, beautiful sauce with a tangy edge that compliments the salmon.

[Hoddy]

It's traditional in these parts to have it finely shredded in an omelette. It reminds me of a wild plant that we ate in the fields as kids. We used to call that rabbit meat.

Hoddy

[NormanH]

[quote user="idun"]

Do any of you grow it and use it?

One of my favourite dishes is salmon a l'oseille, beautiful sauce with a tangy edge that compliments the salmon.

[/quote]

Excellent with a good Sancerre [:D]

[Clair]

Pommes de terre à l'oseille:

lightly cooked sorrel and boiled potatoes, served with a béchamel sauce to accompany morue salée (salt cod) - also works well with hard-boiled eggs.

[Patf]

We grew it last year, but I found it a pain to wash and check for insects.

Also it's almost impossible to dig up! (has very strong deep roots, like dock.)

[5-element]

Doesn't it (sorrel) like to be kept well-watered? I failed abysmally to grow it, and blame the soil, the burning sun, and the drought.[:(]

[Clair]

My old neighbour sowed a row of sorrel in what was then her garden.

Shed's been dead nearly three years, and the sorrel still flourishes, without any help of any kind from me or Mr Clair...

[idun]

I never seemed to have any problems with insects. Just washed each leaf under the tap and never found anything on them.  I have bought frozen oseille in France, but it was  fade in comparison to the fresh stuff.

[mik]

My neighbour cooked a locally caught carp which had been stuffed with oseille for 24 hours. Despite my reservations, it was delicious. She claimed the acidity in the herb dissolved the small bones. Has anyone else come across this? Sounds highly implausible to me.

[Hoddy]

It looks as though she's right -

http://www.fondation-louisbonduelle.org/france/en/know-your-vegetables/nutritional-assets-of-vegetables/oseille.html

Hoddy

[5-element]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Thanks to this thread, I have now found my oseille - which I thought defunct - in the garden, hidden under the sunflowers!!! It lives on, and I will nurture it from now on.

Soupe à l'oseille is one of my favourite soups. and I hope one day to make it from my own oseille.

[andyh4]

[quote user="5-element"]Doesn't it (sorrel) like to be kept well-watered? I failed abysmally to grow it, and blame the soil, the burning sun, and the drought.[:(][/quote]

 

I think yes.

 

Ours grows on a west facing bed protected by the building to the East and so only gets sun from 14:00 onwards and the roots are protected from the afternoon sun by Oregano planted to the West and South of it.

 

It keeps coming back despite no attention (apart from picking - also brilliant in salads to add some tang) an no watering apart from the rain.

[Clair]

[quote user="andyh4"][quote user="5-element"]Doesn't it (sorrel) like to be kept well-watered? I failed abysmally to grow it, and blame the soil, the burning sun, and the drought.[:(][/quote]I think yes. Ours grows on a west facing bed protected by the building to the East and so only gets sun from 14:00 onwards and the roots are protected from the afternoon sun by Oregano planted to the West and South of it. It keeps coming back despite no attention (apart from picking - also brilliant in salads to add some tang) an no watering apart from the rain.[/quote]

It don't really think it makes a lot of difference.

Like Andy's, the sorrel in our garden doesn't get any attention whatsoever. The only difference is that it grows in a south-facing patch, with little protection from the sun.