Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Wild Food guide to Rock Samphire along with all the Rock Samphire containing recipes presented on this site, with 2 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 Rock Samphire as a major wild food ingredient.

Rock Samphire, Crithmum maritimum (also known as 'Sea Bean') is the sole sole species of the genus Crithmum, a member of the Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) family. As such it belongs to the same family as the carrot, pignut, caraway and chervil. It is an edible wild plant commonly found on rocks in the coastal regions of mainland Britain. The plant itself can be readily distinguished by its long, fleshy, bright-green, shining leaflets (full of aromatic juice) and umbels of tiny, yellowish-green blossoms. The whole plant is aromatic and has a powerful scent.

Rock samphire can also be identified by its warm but slightly sulphurous scent. The plant flowers between June and September but the plant is at is best before it flowers and ideally should be picked between the spring and early summer. Indeed, this is one of the springtime treats for the wild food forager and the young leaves, if gathered in May, sprinkled with salt (after freeing them from stalks and flowers) to extract excess bitterness, boiled, and covered with vinegar and spice, make one of the best pickles, on account of their aromatic taste. The use of Samphire as a condiment and pickle, or as an ingredient in a salad is of ancient date. It used at one time to be cultivated in gardens and was sold on London streets as 'Crest Marine'. Samphire can be kept for up to a year if stored in over-salted brine (ie brine reduced by boiling) and simply needs to be soaked in vinegar for 24h afterwards to make it palatable. The simplest way to prepare this plant is to remove any hard parts of the stem and any leaves that have begun to turn slimy. The remainder of the plant can then be boiled until soft (usually about ten minutes) and can then be fried with butter.

The name 'samphire' itself derives from the French term 'herbe de St Pierre' and refers to the patron saint of fishermen.

The leaves can be eaten either raw or cooked and have a flavour reminiscent of fennel, but with a bitter and brackish aftertaste. The saltiness can be overpowering and the plant is best used, sparingly, as a flavouring in salads and soups. However, the young leaves do make an excellent pickle and are rich in vitamin C. The seed pods are also edible and are best when pickled. Pickled seed pods are warm and aromatic in flavour and make excellent garnishes.

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