cooking with Burdock leaves

[jon r]

Today i was looking for Burdock to harvest some roots. The leaves are very big and i was wondering if they can be used to wrap your food in when you pit roast it, just like when people wrap their food in palm leaves etc. Has anybody done this before? Is using Burdock leaves safe? Could Burdock leaves transfer toxins into the food?

Many thanks!

 

[Roibeard]

I have wondered about this too.
Ray mears used dock leaves to to wrap food in the wild food series but i don't think dock leaves are edible as such.
According to the pfaf database burdock leaves are edible.
http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Arctium+lappa

I was thinking that water liliy leaves would be excellant for this purpose since their so thick compared to dock or even burdock.
Maybe a bit brittle though

 

[chickenofthewoods]

Burdock is one of the many large-leaved plants that was reputedly used to wrap substances like butter, allegedly for transport or storage. The trouble is this is a use recorded mainly by repeated legend and it's hard to find actual substantial written information about it or the method employed.

Burdock (ie: Arctium majus/Arctium lappa) and Dock (ie: Rumex obtusifolius) aren't the same though. Burdock has very large slightly furry heart shaped leaves and dock has much smaller, more oval smooth leaves.

Thinking about it, to wrap food for storage &/or transport I imagine that the leaves would have been blanched or wilted to make them more pliable to begin with otherwise they would tend to snap around the stiffer midrib and stem areas alowing leakage. Although doing so might not be necessary for cooking, it would have advantages - blanching for example makes the leaves damp (so less scorching) and more flexible which means a better seal around the foodstuff so it would be less likely to be contaminated by ash or debris from the fire and juices would be contained.

An oddly enough, I'm about to make some lamb dolmades with the vine leaves from our garden today!

 

[Lordyosch]

One of the instructors on the Woodlore course I attended t'other week was using Burdock leaves to wrap a trout to cook over an open fire so I guess he thought they were ok.


Jay

 

[IntrepidStu]

One of the instructors on the Woodlore course I attended t'other week was using Burdock leaves to wrap a trout to cook over an open fire so I guess he thought they were ok.


Jay

You say "over an open fire". Do you mean "on the hot coals" or "on a trivet" or what??
Cheers.

 

[Greg]

I have used burdock leaves to cover a suckling pig in a hangi.

I hope this helps.

Here's a Youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtiN77dvugo&feature=related

 

[Mendip Man]

Burdock leaves, roots and stems are all edible and it'll be fine for cooking with. They have mild antiseptic and diurectic properties, so the only advice is don't eat too much of it (or drink too much burdock beer!)

Cheers

Ady

 

[Lordyosch]

You say "over an open fire". Do you mean "on the hot coals" or "on a trivet" or what??
Cheers.

Wrap the trout and plonk on enmbers