Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Wild Food guide to Burdock along with all the Burdock containing recipes presented on this site, with 16 recipes in total.

This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the Cornish recipes added to this site.

These recipes, all contain Burdock as a major wild food ingredient.

The name 'Burdock' actually refers to any of a group of biennial thistles in the genus Arctium of the Asteraceae (aster/daisy) family though the term is most commonly used to refer to common Burdock (Arctium minus) which grows wild throughout most of North America, Europe and Asia. Plants of the genus Arctium are most noticeable from their leaves which are dark green and can grow up to 45cm in length and which have a woolly underneath and their prickly seed heads noted for easily catching in the pelts of animals and the clothes of humans.

As a plant the taproot of young burdock plants (which are black) can be harvested and eaten as a root vegetable (the best roots come from young plants). While generally out of favour in modern European cuisine, it remains popular in Asia, particularly in Japan where A lappa is called gobo. The roots can also be candied. The leaves are excellent for wrapping fish and meat prior to cooking on hot stones or in clay. The young flowering stems, when picked in May (do not pick any later) can be stripped of the hard outer stem which laves a thin pencil-like vegetable that can either be chopped for inclusion in salads or can be boiled and served with butter (in a similar manner to asparagus). Mixed with dandelion, burdock used to be used to make an alcoholic beverage (a non-alcoholic version of which, Dandelion and Burdock is still popular in Britain today).

The young leaves and leaf stems should be cooked as a potherb. They are mucilaginous and can be used as a thickener. I have also seen reported that seed sprouts can be consumed line any other sprouting seeds (but I have not personally tried them). However, I find the leaf stems fiddly to prepare (they need to be peeled) and they're quite bitter. One part of the plant that few sites mention are the flower stalks/stems. These are also edible; again, they need to be peeled but have an excellent sweet crunchy taste with no bitterness once prepared. Try them as a vegetable: they go really well in curries.

References:

[1]. David Evans Notes from field observations, tastings and cookery experiments.
[2]. Huxley, A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992
[3]. Tanaka, T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World.
[4]. Lim T.K. Edible Medicinal And Non-Medicinal Plants, Vols 1–8.
[5]. Thomas, G. S. Perennial Garden Plants
[6]. Milner, E. Trees of Britain and Ireland
[7]. Rose, F. & O'Reilly, C. The Wild Flower Key (Revised Edition) – How to identify wild plants, trees and shrubs in Britain and Ireland
[8]. Streeter, D. & Garrard, I. The Wild Flowers of the British Isles
[9]. Clapham, A.R.; Tutin, T.G. & Moore, D.M. Flora of the British Isles
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms
[10]. Phillips, R. Mushrooms
[11]. Jordan, P. & Wheeler, S. The Complete Book of Mushrooms: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Edible Mushrooms
[12]. Bunker, F.; Brodie, J.A.; Maggs, C.A. & Bunker, A. Seaweeds of Britain and Ireland.
[13]. Facciola, S. Cornucopia — A Source Book of Edible Plants