Dandelion and Burdock

[Motorbike Man]

Anyone got any idea how to make traditional Dandelion and Burdock?

 

[Moonraker]

Anyone got any idea how to make traditional Dandelion and Burdock?

Closed to it I could find. Try dropping the Sassafras Bark and Sarsaparilla?

Dandelion and Burdock

(This is based on an American Root Beer recipe, but it might help...)

3oz Sassafras Bark, dried
2oz Sarsaparilla, dried
1oz Dandelion Root, dried
1oz Burdock Root, dried
1/2oz Ground Ginger
1/2oz Ground Cinnamon
1/4oz Orange Peel, dried

Mix together all ingredients and store in a tightly closed container. In a large pot combine 1 quart of water and 4 tablespoons of dry mixture. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Strain and sweeten with honey or stevia (also called "sweet herb") if desired.

Makes about 4 cups

Variation: For a fizzy drink, chill the simmered mixture, then dilute it with sparkling water. Serve over ice with a twist of orange peel.

Another one worth trying and perfect right now:

Nettle, Dandelion and Burdock Beer

Ingredients: 450g young nettles

120g dandelion leaves

120g fresh, sliced or 60g dried burdock root

15g root ginger, bruised

2 lemons

4.5 litres water

450g plus 4tsp. demerara sugar

30g cream of tartar

Brewer's yeast (see manufacturer's instructions for amount to use)

Put the herbs and the thinly pared rinds of the lemons into a large pan with the water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Put the lemon juice, 450g of sugar and the cream of tartar into a large container and add the strained liquid from the pan, squeezing the herbs well. Stir to dissolve the sugar and cool to blood heat. Sprinkle in the yeast. Cover the beer and leave to ferment in a warm place for three days. Rack off the beer and bottle it, adding half a teaspoon of sugar per pint. Leave the bottles until the beer is clear - about one week.

Good luck!

 

[Moonraker]

Jon, This looks good too from the River Cottage forum:

http://forum.rivercottage.net/viewtopic.php?t=9437&highlight=dandelion+burdock

 

[Ed]

Cheers for the link

Ed

 

[Mutley]

What does a burdock look like?

 

[Moonraker]

What does a burdock look like?

There are some links on the link I gave above. One is:

http://www.wildflowers.reach.net/burdock.html

Also checkout the

Good Flora & Fauna Links 'sticky' top thread in the 'Flora & Fauna' forum for links like this.

 

[match]

Thanks for those great links - I'd spent a long time looking for a recipe about 5 years ago, and then gave up - had completely forgotten to go back and look again.

I would guess that the darker the brown sugar the better, as dandelion and burdock (the fizzy stuff) always has a treacly taste to me.

Now to go pick 120g of dandelion leaves....

 

[Motorbike Man]

Fantastic, thanks for the links Moonraker

 

[demographic]

There are some links on the link I gave above. One is:

http://www.wildflowers.reach.net/burdock.html

That is a dam good link.

Thanks

 

[Edd-UK]

but where to get burdock from??

there is none around here.

 

[Ed]

but where to get burdock from??

there is none around here.

Thats a shame .... looks like you'll have to start scouting health-food and herb shops. Our local health-food shop sell dried burdock as a loose leaf (ie not in a packet)

Ed

 

[Moonraker]

but where to get burdock from??

there is none around here.

Edd-UK, burdock is found mainly in waste ground (disturbed ground), preferring calcareous soils, roadsides and it is sometimes also found in meadows and woods. It prefers well drained but moist soil.

There are two species of burdock in Britain, Great burdock (Arctium lappa) and Lesser burdock (Arctium minus)

If it was a native plant then you could enter the first part of your postcode at The Postcode Plants Database to find what grows in your local area. But, Burdock is an introduction (coming originally from Eurasia where it is still used a lot medically and for food)

Foraging the roots of the first years growth (it is a biennial and lives for two)years) is best done in the Autumn when they have stored food for the winter period. The roots of the second years growth (when they have grown taller) is OK in the Spring.

According to Roger Phillips in his book 'Wild Food' (page 74-75), you pick the young leaf stems from May onwards, the leaves picked in June and July and the roots dug in the Autumn (for Burdock beer etc Spring is fine). The roots, stems (peeled) and roots (peeled) can all be eaten raw as well as cooked.

He also says that for Burdock Beer etc pick the roots just as the plant begins to leaf. He also recommends using molasses in the beer for a richer, darker stout like finish.

happy hunting

 

[Edd-UK]

thanks Simon. thats a good link.

thanks for the advice. do you know if it can be bought at say a health food shop?

 

[Moonraker]

thanks Simon. thats a good link.

thanks for the advice. do you know if it can be bought at say a health food shop?

Probably, although I have never had to buy it myself.

For info, here is the distribution map of Lesser Burdock in your area:

source: 10km distribution of Arctium minus (Lesser Burdock) in Cheshire

For info, here is the distribution map of Greater Burdock in your area:

source: 10km distribution of Arctium lappa (Greater Burdock) in Cheshire

Most likely places are waste ground, old building sites etc in urban areas.

Seek, and thee shall find