Bistort

[gurthang]

I came across a plant in a book today I think it was called floating bistort or something like that (spear shaped leaves floats on water has a flowering spike) I know you can eat alpine Bistort I think ray mears prepared some in one of his programs once anyone know if you can eat this floating variety.

 

[jakunen]

I think this may be the amphibious bistort which is edible. Richard Mabey has a recipe for bistort pie iirc in Food for Free.

 

[gurthang]

amphibious bistort .

amphibious thats the word I was looking for thanks

 

[jakunen]

No probs mate.

Plant lore one of my things.
If you can't find a recipe, I'll post one or two tomorrow.

 

[hootchi]

Gurthang

Here is a brief copy of the recipe for bistort from food for free. It is the main ingredient in a dish called ledger pudding/easter ledger/easter herb. It was eaten in the up until the 70’s if not later. I cant find a pie recipe in Food for Free. :?:

Take a bagful of spring leaves, mainly bistort but could include nettle tops, dandelion leaves or lady’s mantle.

Wash and cook in boiling water for 10 minutes.

Strain and chop leaves. Add one beaten agg, one hard boiled egg chopped small, butter, salt and pepper. Mix.

Heat through in the saucepan and transfer to a pudding bowl to shape. Enjoy!

As with any wild food make sure you positively identify it and know that it is safe before consumption. im sure you are aware but imsure i must say it :roll:

Has anyone tried this recipe? It looks simple enough and tasty but not i'm sure about outdoors. It would be possible...

Hootchi

Reference. Food for Free. Richard Mabey. Reprint 1974. Pg 97. If you wanted to know.

 

[match]

For reference, here is a picture of Polygonum Amphibium (amphibious bistort):

Note, that like ordinary bistort, wood sorrel and other plants of the polygonum family, this plant contains reasonably high levels of Oxalic Acid, and should thus be eaten in moderation.

[url="http://www.essexwt.org.uk/Species/Plants3/amphibious%20bistort%20(AG).jpg"]PFAF Databse - Polygonum Amphibium[/url]

 

[zen]

Nice picture Match.

Apparently, eating eggs with greens high in oxalic acid helps to combat the harmful effects of the acid (one of which is that it binds with calcium inhibiting it's absorbtion). That's why spinach and eggs are often combined in old recipes.

Ref: Food and Healing. Annemarie Colbin 1986.

 

[Tantalus]

i thought cooking destroyed oxalic acid?

not too keen on cooking sorrel as i like the sour taste

but cooked as a spinach i am sure it would be good too

Tant

 

[jakunen]

i thought cooking destroyed oxalic acid?

not too keen on cooking sorrel as i like the sour taste

but cooked as a spinach i am sure it would be good too

Tant

It does iirc from my days as a food scientist. That's why rhubarb stems are safe to eat after being cooked.

You'd need a lot of sorrel to use as a spinach substitute...unless you used a larger rumex like goat sorrel or good king henry than the wood sorrel.

 

[Tantalus]

lol yeah i have acess to a lot of sorrel

i usually pick a couple of handfuls for the ponies when i walk past their field as a little treat for them

cooking sites are vague on oxalic acid

and chemistry sites seem to describe properties of pure acid ( which won't occur in nature often)

can we agree cooking destroys most of the oxalic acid in plants and even spinach tho ?

on a sidenote, the greeks used to pick a lot of field "weeds" in the wet winter season and boil them up as a spinach type salad they called "chorta"

i was just beginning to learn which was good and which was not after 3 or 4 years living there

Tant

 

[zen]

lol yeah i have acess to a lot of sorrel

can we agree cooking destroys most of the oxalic acid in plants and even spinach tho ?

Tant

My (limited) understanding is that cooking does destroy oxalic acid, but you need to cook it for a while to do so.

I think that lightly steamed spinach might well still contain a fair amount, but if it's boiled for ages there will be almost none left.

 

[Tantalus]

but if it's boiled for ages there will be almost none left.

yeah thats kinda what i was thinking

even boiled greens will have minerals and a few vitamins, as well as being a welcome hot meal in a bushcraft situation

actually one of the oddities i picked up on my travels was spinach with a fried egg on top

i'm sure you could replace spinach with bistort or sorrel

orrible colours but a good meal nonetheless ):

Tant

 

[jakunen]

A very good alternative (for those that can eat eggs) is to repalce the spinach with ramson leaves. (Seen it done beside Lough Erne in Co. Donegal).

You want to cook sorrel long enough to cook it, but not so much that you end up with a green sludge that has no nutritional value...

 

[match]

Yes, as far as I am aware, cooking does destory oxalic acid - but yes you do need to cook it for a long time.

And the risks from eating oxalic acid is not so much that it directly poisons you - more that (as has already been said) it binds with minerals in the digestive system and inhibits their uptake - thus if you have a lot of oxalic acid in your diet you actually seriously risk mineral deficiency!

I believe that eggs help reduce these effects as they are natually high in calcium, thus providing a 'sponge' to mop up most of the acid's effects. However, its quite rare to be finding eggs in the same environment where you might be eating large quantities of sorrel/bistort etc - i.e out in the middle of nowhere.