Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Wild Food guide to Sow Thistle along with all the Sow Thistle containing recipes presented on this site, with 7 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 Sow Thistle as a major wild food ingredient.

Sow thistle, (also known as hare thistle, hare lettuce, smooth sow thistle and milk thistle) Sonchus oleraceus is an annual plant with spineless leaves and yellow flowers resembling those of the dandelion. The leaves are bluish-green, simple, lanceolate, with wavy and sometimes lobed margins, covered in spines on both the margins and beneath. The base of the leaf surrounds the stem. The plant can reach 180 cm in height and both leaves and stems exude a milky sap when cut.

Sow thistles are common roadside plants, and while native to Eurasia and tropical Africa, they are found almost worldwide in temperate regions. Despite their common name, sow thistles are not true thistles, although are classified in the same family, the Asteraceae.

The plant has traditionally been used as feed for livestock (especially rabbits). The leaves are also edible by humans. Young leaves have a flavour similar to lettuce and are excellent in salads. But older leaves tend to be bitter. However, they can be cooked by washing, adding to a pan with a little water and a knob of butter and cooked until tender (a minute or so). Cooked in this manner they have a flavour similar to chard. The best of the sow thistles to eat is the Smooth Sow Thistle Sonchus oleraceus, however there are several other species also colloquially called 'Sow Thistle' and these include the Prickly Sow Thistle (also known as Spiny Milk-thistle) Sonchus asper and the Perennial Sow-thistle (Field Milk-thistle) Sonchus arvensis. Of these the smooth sow-thistle is the best eating. Indeed, it is used in Greece as a winter salad vegetable (typically it's available all year round). Note that although the sow-thistles are often colloquially termed 'milk-thistle' they should not be confused with milk thistle proper, Silybum marianum.

Young sow thistle leaves can be eaten either raw or cooked. Picked early in spring, they have the nicest tasting leaves of any member of the genus, with the least bitterness. They can be added, sparingly, to salads or can be cooked like spinach or added to soups and stews. The leaves are quite a good source of vitamin C, containing about 35mg per 100g. The stems of the plant are edible and can be prepared like asparagus or rhubarb, but they are best if peeled first.

Roots of young plants can be cooked and eaten, tough they are not truly a worthwhile food and tend to b rather woody. The milky sap can be gathered into a ball and can be used as a form of chewing gum.

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