nettles-msg - 10/23/01
Use of stinging nettles in period. Preparing them. Recipes.
NOTE: See also the files: herbs-msg, p-herbals-msg, salads-msg, angelica-msg, herb-uses-msg, soup-msg, A-Mazng-Herbs-art, hops-msg, sumac-msg.
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Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 10:14:22 -0400
From: "Louise Smithson" <smithson at mco.edu>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Nettles (was viking cook book)
I have to contradict you. I am originally from the UK although now living in the US. I have eaten nettles. Nettles are edible but only when they are young. I have harvested them in spring when the plants are less than 4" high. Once you cut them down to the ground they resprout and you can cut them over and over again. They are not eaten as a stem vegetable, more as a leaf vegetable. The most widely available substitute is actually spinach.
Once you cook the nettles they loose their stinging property and cook way down (start off with a big bag of greens, end up with enough to feed 4 people).
Helewyse
Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 11:26:51 -0400
From: johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [SCA-Cooks] Viking cookbook//nettles
Stinging nettles [Urtica dioica] are naturalized in the US.
See: http://www.naturepark.com/snettle.htm
and
http://www.desertusa.com/mag01/sep/papr/stngnet.html
and
http://www.sbherbals.com/121999HotM.html
I would be cautious about wild gathering in the US,
due to spraying. They are considered to be a weed.
Johnna Holloway
Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 11:34:21 -0400
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
From: "Linda M. Kalb" <lmkalb at mail.med.upenn.edu>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Nettles (was viking cook book), rutabegas,
mangetout
> They are not eaten as a stem vegetable, more as
>a leaf vegetable. The most widely available substitute is actually spinach.
The picture of nettle soup in the Viking Cookbook does indeed look like
it's made with a leaf vegetable, somewhat smaller than spinach.
Inga/Linda
Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 23:00:18 -0700
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
From: Anne-Marie Rousseau <acrouss at gte.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Nettles (was viking cook book), rutabegas,
mangetout
on nettles....
we eat them all the time up here, they grow wild. harvest them with gloves
and throw them in a cookpot. The heat quickly inactivates the toxins that
make them sting. Nettle soup is a favorite of mine and they're very yummy
in medieval dishes that call for miscellaneous greens, like herbolade, or
tarts.
--Anne-Marie
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
To: "'sca-cooks at ansteorra.org'" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: RE: [SCA-Cooks] Viking cookbook
Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2001 08:19:19 -0500
> If you can't get nettles you might try cardoons. They are a
> member of the same family.
>
> Finnebhir
I believe you are incorrect. Nettles are members of the family Urticaceae
genus Urtica. Cardoons are are members of the family Compositea or
Asteraceae genus Cynara. The cardoons are related to thistles.
Bear
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