Cow Parsley.

[luke_s]

Hi all.
I've heard from a few people that Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) is poisonous. But I was given Food for free by Richard Mabey today (great book) and according to him it's not only safe to eat, but is actually a herb.
I know Fools parsley and Hemlock which both look kinda similar will give your insides a bit of a rough time.
Could anyone shed a bit more light on this please?

Luke.

 

[andyn]

Hi Luke have a look here:

http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Anthriscus+sylvestris

 

[JonnyP]

Careful with this one Luke... Cow parsley is edible, but it belongs to the carrot family, of which many are poisonous, and many look like one another... Only eat if you are certain of ID

 

[JonnyP]

Hi Luke have a look here:

http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Anthriscus+sylvestris

Nice to see PFAF is back up and working again Andy...

 

[Jodie]

It might be that the risk is in there being so many similar looking plants, some of which
are very poisonous - I thought that cow parsley was edible, but I might be wrong. However
I'd be very wary in case I'd misidentified something else that's a bit lethal.

See the Plants for a Future database for more info:
http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Anthriscus+sylvestris - they seem to suggest
that bits of it are edible, but advise caution when identifying it.

Have a look at JonnyP's post on water drop wort...

 

[Jodie]

Hehe, I was a bit slow on that one!

 

[JonnyP]

Hehe, I was a bit slow on that one!

Good to see you back again Jodie...

 

[Jodie]

 

[chickenofthewoods]

I know Fools parsley and Hemlock which both look kinda similar will give your insides a bit of a rough time.

I'd say that was something of an understatement. Fatal is closer to it. This is a family I really wouldn't recommend experimenting with, especially if you're fairly new to foraging and frankly even if you weren't. It demands careful research and plenty of respect if you're not to do yourself some serious harm.

Beside the possibility of poisoning yourself, there are other members of the family that can give you nastly, itching, blistering skin rashes the effects of which can last for many many months.

Please be careful.

 

[Staghound]

Beside the possibility of poisoning yourself, there are other members of the family that can give you nastly, itching, blistering skin rashes the effects of which can last for many many months.

Please be careful.

I'd second that, I strimmed something of cow parsley like appearance, possibly giant hogweed, (haven't been back yet to see what exactly) about ten days ago and where the sap hit skin I've got red, blistered patches like chemical burns. Hate to think what it would to your innards if you ate it.

 

[xylaria]

The rashes that are produced by the carrot family are normally due a chemical that makes your skin more senstive to sunlight. If you get sap on your skin, wash off ASAP, if you have no water spit on it. covering it up until the sap is scrubed off with help. If you get blisters wear sunblock for the next couple of months/years, the reaction will leave that part of your skin more suseptable to skin cancer in the future.

Cow parsley is related to garden chervil, there is enough edible greens out there at this time of year that i don't need risk picking either of these to get greens. Sow thistle shredded up deep fried, with soy sauce and brown sugar sprinkled over the top for example is proper lovely.

 

[chickenofthewoods]

More details please Xylaria!

I've been nurturing several sow thistles in the garden for cooking/salads. I find it very good.

 

[xylaria]

I presume you mean details on sow thistle, i get muddled in what people think sometimes.

Sow thistles;
they are three types of sow thistles, they all have similar looking leaves that are well 'thistle like' but they don't cause injury, the leaves at the top of the plant clasp around the stem in very distinctive way. The flowers are like dandilions. Both smooth sow thistle (sonchus oleraceus)and perennial sowthistle (S. arvensis) are edible, the prickly S.T is a bit bitter. They all produce a small amount of milky sap when cut. They are very very common.

recipe
Take one half carrier bag of fresh leaves, wash(or discard critters) and shred finely. Dry leaves
Deep fry in hot oil until crispy. It spits i warn you.
Remove from oil and drain
spinkle with soya sauce and brown sugar, I guess about a tablespoonful (I never measure)
It tastes like the seaweed from a chinese.

Or use it like cabbage.

 

[JonnyP]

Corrrr....Deep fried sow thistle with sugar and soy sauce on... That sounds superb Fi... Where do you get your ideas from ? I am useless at making up recepies and can only copy what books say..

 

[xylaria]

you what? i did copy it from a book , except it had cabbage in it. I think it was in peckish but poor by cas clake. Cheap take-aways use cabbage not sea lettuce, the sow thistle has a more iodine flavour so it is better than cabbage.

 

[chickenofthewoods]

Thank you kindly for that, I did mean the recipe.