A Revolutionary Garden

This is the season for fresh veggies and herbs from the garden .It's time to harvest the small age and burnet. These may. Sound strange -even foreign to you however they were a big part of the Colonial diet.Before there were modern greens there were their wild cousins. Even though they were staples back in the 1600s and 1700s, they still can be used in today 's recipes.

This was the subject of a very interesting article in the Thursday Home section of the NewYork Times. Michael Totorello wrote this thought provoking article that deals with plants from the past four centuries. A lot was written about small age ,a precursor of celery.This was used as aside to meats.It still can be used today in salads and even soups. Burnet , a popular and well used herb ofPuritans was used for doctoring wine. it's light cucumber like taste could easily be added to any 21st Century summer dish. There is also skirret which instantly takeover the garden,Unfortunately it takes a lot plants to get enough pulp for dish.

Cooking these greens does take some patience.Purslane, another 18th Century "sallet green, has to be blanched first before cooking.Scozonera, another celery like plant has to be over baked to soften its woody core which can be super tough to eat. the tastes may be a little intense for modern palates however they can be softened with sautes in olive oil or butter. Scallions and garlic can also be added too or even spinach which was a very popular dish in the 1700's.

Travel to the culinary past this summer. Add colonial favorites like small age, purslane and burnet to your cooking.It's a neat way of connecting with our culinary past.