Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Wild Food guide to Hop Plant along with all the Hop Plant containing recipes presented on this site, with 4 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 Hop Plant as a major wild food ingredient.

The Hop vine, Humulus lupulus (also known as Common hop, European Hop) represent a member of a small genus of flowering plant in the Cannabaceae (hemp) family of plants. Although typically called a 'vine', the hop plant is technically a 'bine' in that it's scrambling habit is attained by the use of stiff stems and clinging habits (rather than tendrils, suckers or hooks). These plants are native to Europe, North America, Northern and Central Asia as well as Southeastern Asia, though the species typically used for brewing, Humulus lupulus, is native to Europe and Western Asia (though it has been naturalized in North America and Australasia).

Hop bines always grow by wrapping themselves clockwise around any solid structure and individual plants can grow between 2 to 15m tall. They are perennial herbaceous plants that send up new shoots in early spring and die back to the cold-hardy rhizome in autumn. Hop shoots grow very rapidly and at the peak of growth can grow 20–50cm per week. The leaves are opposite, with a 7–12cm petiole and cordate-based, palmately lobed blade 12–25 cm long and broad with edges that are coarsely toothed. Hop plants are dioecius (have both male and female plants) and typically flower about the latter end of June or the beginning of July, with pendent flowers appearing in dense clusters. The hops themselves, which are the scaly seed-vessels of the female plants, are picked off by hand when the seed is formed (about the end of August) for use in brewing (with the seed vessels being air dried before use as a bittering agent).

During May, when the hop vines are pruned the fresh hop shoots and young leaves can be cooked as an asparagus substitute. This practice is common in Italy and Pliny mentions the same practice occurring in the Roman empire 2000 years earlier. Indeed, the first use of hops was for the spring greens rather than their fruit. This Roman use of hops is why it's often mistakenly thought that hops were introduced to Britain by the Romans (they are a native plant). Indeed, it wasn't until 1067 when Hildegard of Bingen first used hops in the bittering of beer and hops weren't used in brewing in Britain until the early 1500s. If you have hop bines nearby then it's well worth collecting the shoots in May as they make an excellent spring vegetable.

The young leaves can also be eaten raw in salads (but like the shoots they should be used before the end of May). The fleshy roots (rhizomes) are also edible and are sometimes eaten. They should be peeled and boiled until tender, or can be chopped and added to soups and stews. The flowering heads are covered in bitter-tasting yellow translucent glands, which appear as a granular substance. This substance prevents gram-negative bacteria from growing in the beer or wort. Indeed, it is this that explains hops' popularity as a food flavouring. The seeds contain gamma linolienic acid and an essential oil derived from the flowering heads is used in the flavouring of grain-based drinks and mineral waters. This essential oil, and other extracts derived from the plant are also used as flavouring in non-alcoholic beverages, frozen dairy desserts, candy, baked goods and puddings.

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