Learning about Lovage
Here and there, I’ve encountered “lovage,” and wondered about it. Just recently, in this GardenFit PBS video, Alice Waters mentioned it along with other more familiar items growing in her garden. But I never had any need to give this herb much thought because I’d never seen it available for purchase anywhere—that is, until this past Saturday when lovage had its Taproot Farm stand debut.
Just before the market opened, George, co-owner of Taproot Farm, spoke to a couple of us hovering, curious shoppers saying that lovage is in the same family as celery and, I think he said, tastes like curry. Upon market opening, into my basket it went.
One customer, who used to operate a cooking school and seemed to have some familiarity with lovage, took a taste and casually remarked on its flavor. For this reason, I had mellow expectations and was jolted when, at home, I took my first ever taste. Nothing mellow about it. As this article states: it’s “Like celery and cardamom had a baby” or something along those lines. I don’t know how I would begin to describe it and, if I did, I don’t know how much would be due to the particularities of my tastebuds. Even Alice Waters, in the video linked above, says “It’s got a very unique flavor.”
But this is what we want from our culinary herbs, right? We turn to them for their strong and individual personalities, to bring that certain something that only they can provide to a dish.
A couple days later, with a couple more bites, I had acclimated and was no longer jolted by lovage’s unusual flavor. Now I simply enjoy it. Here are two recipes I found which, based on my tasting of this herb, look like they could work well. Alice Waters’ lovage burgers and Wild garlic, lemon & lovage soup. But, as with any herb, there is a wide range of fun and interesting recipes to be found online. I used some of the lovage I had in this Taproot Farm Green Goddess Dressing (even though the recipe does not name lovage as a suggested herb) and thought it worked nicely. But I still have lovage left. It’s playtime!
My Smiling Baskets
Loving Leeks
Here is a little something I learned from having a boyfriend who was born and raised in Cardiff, Wales. Leeks are a national symbol of Welsh pride. If that isn’t reason enough to love a Welshman.
Anna and I adore leeks and pretty soon, with Chris’s help, may be able to express that sentiment in the Welsh language. Leeks feature prominently in the Duolingo Welsh curriculum that Chris has been working through.
(Parsnips, inexplicably, are an even bigger deal in the curriculum—search any combination of “Owen, Duolingo, Parsnips” and you’ll see what I mean—but that’s a vegetable for another time.) As a point of comparison, I’ve been working through Duolingo Spanish for several months now, and not once has there been mention of any specific food, or even anything at all, symbolically or stereotypically Spanish.
To answer the question on the left: We had them Sunday night. I purchased four beautiful stalks from Rineer Family Farms and here is what I made:
I sliced the leeks in half, lengthwise down the middle, then cut the now half-circle stalks into pieces roughly one inch long. Further up the stalk I cut the leeks into finer pieces.
I sautéed them in butter and olive oil, then removed the leeks from the pan, and put them aside.
Into that same pan, I next sautéed sliced Primordia Mushroom Farm cremini mushrooms, with a little white wine vinegar, until most of the liquid had evaporated.
I added the leeks back in with the cooked mushrooms and spread everything out evenly in the pan.
I melted a combination of provolone, sharp cheddar, and mozzarella on top. Anna and I were very happy. (This is a variation of what we sometimes make with creminis and greens. The leeks made the dish a richer experience.)
To answer the question on the right: Yes. Leeks are so inviting in multiple dishes but, when time is short and leeks are abundant, having them chopped (as above) and sautéed in a little butter gets right to the heart of what we find so melt-in-your-mouth good about this allium.
So now I ask my readers: Dych chi’n bwyta cennin heddiw?
More From Anna’s Garden Songs
Poems by Mary Q. Steele, Pictures by Lena Anderson
One day she’ll have a tent with weights, an iPad, a Square reader (which will sometimes fail), a website, and so forth. And yet, it will always come down to know your farmer.
Da iawn, cariad! Does gen i ddim cennin o gwbl heddiw.. :-(