One of England’s forgotten vegetables, Alexanders are at their most magnificent in April, their stately stems thick and tall on verges and grassy banks. Alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum) love the coast and grow in greatest profusion within a few miles of the sea, though isolated patches thrive even far inland, often close to monastic sites, where it was once cultivated.
Eating alexanders
Cut and steam the stems and buds, ideally just before the flowers have opened, for an absolutely distinctive, even peculiar, vegetable, a little like celery, parsley or chervil.
The Cottage Smallholder recommends:
Its best use is when the spring growth produces good sized stalks. If they are not too woody, these can be cut, and peeled, then braised in a little butter in a pan for a few minutes until soft. Serve with a sprinkle of pepper. This tastes rather like asparagus and is a real delight. The yellow-green flower buds can be eaten raw or added to salads and have a pleasant, nutty taste.
Roger Phillips, in his excellent collection of photos and recipes, Wild Food,
The history of alexanders
Alexanders were once grown in kitchen gardens as Alexandrian parsley. Like so many other naturalised edible plants, Alexanders were introduced by the Romans and enjoyed centuries of popularity before eventually falling out of fashion with the introduction of new varieties of celery in the 19th century
John Evelyn, in his Acetaria: A Discourse of Sallets
The gentle fresh sprouts, buds, and tops are to be chosen, and the stalks eaten in the spring; and when blanch’d, in winter likewise, with oyl, pepper, salt, etc by themselves, or in composition: They make also an excellent vernal pottage.
Just such a pottage was described by Robert May in The Accomplish’t Cook
Ellicksander Pottage
Chop ellicksanders and oatmeal together, being picked and washed, then set on a pipkin with fair water, and when it boils, put in your herbs, oatmeal, and salt, and boil it on a soft fire, and make it not too thick, being almost boil’d put in some butter.
Roger Phillips’ Wild Food
(This post is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging #78, hosted by Cook Almost Anything at Least Once)
24 Comments
It’s something I’d love to try. I’ve just got to identify it first!
I’m having the same trouble. It doesn’t seem to figure in the Capitulare de Villis which surprises me as so many plants we use today are in that list. And I can’t find anything to give me a modern common name on the web. So more clues, please.
Scott, Trig -
Roger Phillips’ Wild Food has good photos of alexanders (and other wild food) as well as recipes. I find it much more useful in the field than Richard Mabey’s classic Food For Free, which does, however, provide some alternative regional names – alick (Kent), hellroot (Dorset), megweed (Sussex), skit (Cornwall), wild celery (Isle of White). I’ve also heard it called horse parsley.
Once you’ve positively identified alexanders, you’ll never miss them again. Their three-lobed leaves and yellow-green flowers are unmistakeable. http://www.floralimages.co.uk/psmyrnolusa.htm has some helpful photos.
Hi Nick, thanks for the message on SomethingYum. Have found Eostre organics before – it’s very good, Have you also seen Booja Booja chocolates? Organic, fair trade etc? Tried them last week from Jarrolds – mighty tasty and local!!
Thanks for sharing this wonderfully rare food stuff with us! Even the wondrous Jane Grigson doesn’t mention it (that I can find) in her Vegetable Book so it must be scarce. Now we just need to find some!
What a wonderful post. I haven’t heard of this before, and I’m always quite excited when someone writes about a brand new type of vegetable or herb. As WHB goes on longer and longer, it happens less often naturally, so thanks for helping us learn about something new this time.
These look very like what I used to call cow parsley when I was younger. Are these the same thing?
Sophie – No! Cow parsley is at least mildly toxic so beware. According to my Illustrated Guide to Poisonous Plants and Fungi (invaluable for any cautious forager), Cow parsley is “said to cause poisoning similar to hemlock but less severe”. Both Alexanders and Cow parsley are members of the Umbelliferae family of plants, which tend to look quite similar, with tall stems and clusters of small flowers (the umbels).
Oooh, I won’t try those then! Not that I tend to see either around these days sadly
If you like to grow it, I have seeds of Alexanders Andreas
There are enough seeds in Cornwall to feed the world !!!! Here it is a WEED !!
Alexanders……very common around nth Norfolk Coast near Wells and inland. Went back to Wells for first time for 30+ years last year and saw more Alexanders than when I was a youngster.
Back in 1958 I was asked to take part in a survey of where it would grow. I was a first year at Wymondham College and we were given seeds to plant. Mine didn’t grow at Tunstead as far as I know.
I have heard that, like Asparagus, a very light sprinkling of salt will help them grow in the garden.
I have been experimenting with these recently with great success. I learned of them from Roger Philips book last year and since then have found them growing in great abundance at home in North Wales and also in Suffolk whilst travelling with work. They do indeed seem to appear eveywhere near the coast. Last night we collected some from the Little Orme and made a lovely chicken and bacon casserole! I think I will be eating these fantastic vegetables forevermore, and, they are free!! Woo Hoo!
I was given some cooked Alexanders young stems which were very pleasant but foolishly tasted the raw stem on a walk and found my mouth ,tongue and even my throat slightly, subjected to a really unpleasant stinging sensation which has lasted, although gradually diminishing, all day. I have searched to see warnings for this but not found any.I did do a similar thing several years ago with feverfew leaves ,which were supposed to be good as a tea for curing headache but the raw leaf made my tongue swell and sting.
They grow in abundance along the roadside verges in SE Cornwall from mid March until about mid April, in many places taking over from the fading early daffodils
They certainly do take over after the daffodils, and they kill all the spring and summer flowering wild plants. They are a menace especially in Cornwall !
The roots look a bit like stunted parsnips and can also be eaten – they’re quite tasty roasted. I’m not sure how long they take to grow to a decent size thobut.
Somewhere I am sure I recall having read in Shakespeare a reference to Alexanders. I thought it was in Henry V’s rallying speech before Agincourt, but it seems not.
Interesting article.
We have these growing everywhere in our garden (south east Kent).
I did try cooking some of the stalks but I think they taste terrible, they smell delicious when freshly cut however.
Love this article!! Love Wild Food! You can create loas of amazing recipes from flavours forgotten from ingredients like Alexanders. It definitley has a place in modern British Cooking. Wild food is organic, its not genetically modified, the food miles are zero, it tastes great and is free!!!! Enjoy!
If you’re up north we’re running two courses on foraging in Cumbria:
Spring Wild Food on May 14th in Staveley in the Lake District
Coastal Wild Food on 27th August in Arnside near Kendal.
See http://www.skillsforsustainableliving.co.uk for more details
Thanks
I have never heard such rubbish !!! This WEED is taking over Cornwall – the once beautiful hedgerows which were once alive with primroses, campions, bluebells, garlic flowers, cornflowers etc. are now thick with this VEGETABLE as you call it. This means the wild flowers cannot grow, and this vegetable takes a lot of getting rid of when it gets a hold in your garden, and the seeds are prolific – if you don’t get rid of them all in one year, they will be back in abundance the following year. There is a spray which will kill them, and not kill the wild flowers – which I use. PLEASE DO NOT ENCOURAGE GROWTH OF WHAT YOU CALL “a vegetable”, or we may lose our countryside hedgerows for ever.
I am sure that all of this is wonderful…..in the right place but if you travel to the north cornish coast Alexander has taken over large amounts of the beautiful cornish hedgerows and is making its way inland. It is difficult to eradicate as the only weedkiller that works is only available to farmers. It grows feet high so blocks out views and coastal footpaths.
Maybe plant some in your back garden for your dinner but please help us to remove it from our wonderful wild spaces.
This plant is more than a menace it’s a plague taking over all the banks and verges where I live and is impossible to get rid of. My garden is full of it despite regular control of it and my lawn is full of it sprouting everywhere and the roots go down into the ground for miles, it would seem. I would love to know how to rid of this rampant, self seeding nuisance that is taking over my garden!!!