The image, above, shows the full Sea Kale plant (Crambemaritima), showing the young leaves, bottom left. Also shown
are the plant in flower, top left, the plant with old flowers,
bottom centre along with close-ups of the flowers, bottom right
and the maturing fruit, top right..
| Common Name: Sea Kale |
| Scientific Name: Crambe maritima |
| Other Names: Crambe, Seakale |
| Family: Cruciferae |
| Range: Atlantic coast of Europe, including Britain, along the Baltic coast and around the Black Sea. |
Physical Characteristics
Crambe maritima is a hardy Perennial plant, growing to 1.2m (4ft) by 0.3m (1 ft) in size. It is hardy to zone 5 and is not frost tender. The plant flowers in July and seeds ripen from July to August. The flowers are hermaphrodite and are wind pollinated.
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| Edible Parts: Flowers, Leaves, Roots |
 Edibility Rating: 4 
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 Known Hazards: None Known.
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Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Wild Food guide to Sea Kale along with all the Sea Kale 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 Sea Kale as a major wild food ingredient.
Sea Kale, Crambe maritima, (also known as seakale) is a halophytic (salt-loving) perennial plant of the Brassicaceae (cabbage/mustard) family that grows wild along the coasts of Europe, from the North Atlantic to the Black Sea. It has large fleshy glaucous collard-like leaves and abundant white flowers. The seeds come one each in globular pods. For consumption the plants are covered in spring with soil, sand or a pot or box. This induces them to produce hick blanched leaf stalks, each topped with a small leaf which can be cut and prepared in a similar manner to asparagus.
Although Sea Kale naturally grows near the salt spray of the ocean it can easily be propagated from seed and grows well in just about any garden where it makes both an attractive architectural plant and an interesting vegetable. The plant can also be grown from root cuttings.
The young leaves can be eaten raw, but are more typically cooked like spinach. They have a pleasant and nutty taste and make excellent salad greens as well as cooked vegetables. Older leaves become bitter and require boiling in salted water to make them palatable. The shoots can be blanched and cooked like asparagus. If properly cooked, they retain their crispness and are very tasty.
The root is edible when cooked and is high in starch and sugars. The young flower buds are also edible. They can be eaten raw or cooked. The flowering shoots are best harvested when about 12cm long and before the flowers have opened. They can be prepared like sprouting broccoli and can be added raw to salads or they can be lightly steamed.
[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
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 Sea Kale as a major wild food ingredient.
Sea Kale, Crambe maritima, (also known as seakale) is a halophytic (salt-loving) perennial plant of the Brassicaceae (cabbage/mustard) family that grows wild along the coasts of Europe, from the North Atlantic to the Black Sea. It has large fleshy glaucous collard-like leaves and abundant white flowers. The seeds come one each in globular pods. For consumption the plants are covered in spring with soil, sand or a pot or box. This induces them to produce hick blanched leaf stalks, each topped with a small leaf which can be cut and prepared in a similar manner to asparagus.
Although Sea Kale naturally grows near the salt spray of the ocean it can easily be propagated from seed and grows well in just about any garden where it makes both an attractive architectural plant and an interesting vegetable. The plant can also be grown from root cuttings.
The young leaves can be eaten raw, but are more typically cooked like spinach. They have a pleasant and nutty taste and make excellent salad greens as well as cooked vegetables. Older leaves become bitter and require boiling in salted water to make them palatable. The shoots can be blanched and cooked like asparagus. If properly cooked, they retain their crispness and are very tasty.
The root is edible when cooked and is high in starch and sugars. The young flower buds are also edible. They can be eaten raw or cooked. The flowering shoots are best harvested when about 12cm long and before the flowers have opened. They can be prepared like sprouting broccoli and can be added raw to salads or they can be lightly steamed.
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
The alphabetical list of all Sea Kale recipes on this site follows, (limited to 100 recipes per page). There are 2 recipes in total:
Page 1 of 1
| Avocado Toasts with Flowers and Soft-boiled Eggs Origin: Australia | Boiled Sea Kale Flowers Origin: Britain |
Page 1 of 1