What a lovely and inspirational article and recipe. I have sweet cecily in my herb garden and it’s gorgeously pretty, but I haven’t cooked with it yet. Now I know what to do with it - thank you!
Thank you Sara - I hope you thought it. Try a little chopped into a green salad and once you get more familiar with it you’ll find yourself using it all the time
This! : “Its slightly aniseedy flavour also makes it very good with seafood. Try it, too, in egg dishes such as an Omelette aux Fines Herbes, or in a yoghurty sauce to dress a cucumber salad.”
Should you ever find yourself in Bristol or Cardiff, restaurant Bar 44's tortilla is really very wonderful. Owen and his team have been refining and re-testing the recipe every year. It's available at a steal (and geographically closer than wonderful Rachel's!).
I think I have almost all the ingredients for this recipe. We are swimming in eggs thanks to our hens, I have so many babbingtons in place of spring onions but also plenty of Welsh onions and our monthly farmers market is this weekend for the asparagus.
With the sweet cicely, have you ever tried saving the seeds for the kitchen in the same way as fennel? Can you grind them to impart some of their properties in the dark part of the year? I do love the green seeds, they are my garden sweets.
You have excellent taste in plants! Babington's leek flourishing nicely here too. I've not had any joy with saving sweet cicely seeds to eat - the texture becomes woody as they brown and the flavour loses intensity, but swizzing them into sugar or salt works really well, and syrup is easily frozen. And yes up there with the very best garden sweets
On the asparagus, have you considered growing a single plant in a large pot? This is what my mother does as she is married to a retired arable farmer who rotervates and only grows annuals so killed the ones she planted in their veg patch.
Sweet cicely is on my to grow list, but hasn't made it to the garden yet, whether it will survive in my extreemly wet Devon garden is another matter, but I shall certainly try.
Looking into it... I'm not sure anyone's actually seen a fennel and dill cross. I think it may well be apocryphal. Which is a polite way of saying bollocks.
Must be a week for Venn diagrams. And I really out to do something about Sweet Cicely (does it hybridise with fennel and dill? Or Dennel and Phil, as I like to call them?)
I don't know whether its ok to say this, but I'm loving the rain at the minute. Admittedly here it is more April showers, a short sharp burst and then a bit of sun. But I am quite enjoying it. What is the history of asparagus? It makes me sad that it has very little acquaintances, does it exude something that makes it less friendly and more prone to growing on its own?
It is NOT ok to say this I'm afraid - you must be in Morocco or similar if you are having SUNSHINE. Consider yourself on a yellow card, and no mistake. Asparagus is a seashore plant originally, and just hates any competition, so you have to keep it weed-free, with nothing taking valuable resources from its space...I'm not that keen in bare soil!
well, that's timely - I am working out my raised bed plans and I now know I don't need an asparagus bed. Its rubbish dropping from having a few acres to a normal garden sometimes.
Sweet Cicely is added to the plans though... I didn't know it grew that tall
I know what you mean about reducing space but I also love it - it means I have to be really questioning of what makes it and what doesn't, and how to interplant etc. Sweet cicely is more often 70cm or so but can get to a metre if given a seemingly random mix of love and ignoring
Before I have even read this I am well into that pan ! I could see myself wafting around the kitchen shouting ‘eh lad, fancy a tortilla?’ … husband would be going ‘yer-what?’.
What a lovely and inspirational article and recipe. I have sweet cecily in my herb garden and it’s gorgeously pretty, but I haven’t cooked with it yet. Now I know what to do with it - thank you!
Thank you Sara - I hope you thought it. Try a little chopped into a green salad and once you get more familiar with it you’ll find yourself using it all the time
This! : “Its slightly aniseedy flavour also makes it very good with seafood. Try it, too, in egg dishes such as an Omelette aux Fines Herbes, or in a yoghurty sauce to dress a cucumber salad.”
🏆🏆🏆
This has made me realise my sweet cicely plant has faded away! Must replace. Bad gardening skills, probably.
Just thought the same, I did have some at one point!
they aren't so keen on the wet so maybe that's it for yours too
Will have to try again.
Maybe the endless rain? You’ll find a nice link in the footnotes for replacing your departed one…
Should you ever find yourself in Bristol or Cardiff, restaurant Bar 44's tortilla is really very wonderful. Owen and his team have been refining and re-testing the recipe every year. It's available at a steal (and geographically closer than wonderful Rachel's!).
I am often in Bristol, thank you!
I think I have almost all the ingredients for this recipe. We are swimming in eggs thanks to our hens, I have so many babbingtons in place of spring onions but also plenty of Welsh onions and our monthly farmers market is this weekend for the asparagus.
With the sweet cicely, have you ever tried saving the seeds for the kitchen in the same way as fennel? Can you grind them to impart some of their properties in the dark part of the year? I do love the green seeds, they are my garden sweets.
You have excellent taste in plants! Babington's leek flourishing nicely here too. I've not had any joy with saving sweet cicely seeds to eat - the texture becomes woody as they brown and the flavour loses intensity, but swizzing them into sugar or salt works really well, and syrup is easily frozen. And yes up there with the very best garden sweets
On the asparagus, have you considered growing a single plant in a large pot? This is what my mother does as she is married to a retired arable farmer who rotervates and only grows annuals so killed the ones she planted in their veg patch.
I haven’t but i just might now. Thank you. And is she *still* married to him…
This looks like a lovely dish.
Sweet cicely is on my to grow list, but hasn't made it to the garden yet, whether it will survive in my extreemly wet Devon garden is another matter, but I shall certainly try.
It should do ok unless it's in a very wet/heavy patch (mine are doing fine here in Devon) but I always have a spare in a pot just in case!
Asparagus happens to be my favourite vegetable too Mark. I love the idea combining it with Sweet Cicely, which I now have to buy seeds for!
Go for a plant or two and get yourself harvesting asap!
Sure thing!
Looking into it... I'm not sure anyone's actually seen a fennel and dill cross. I think it may well be apocryphal. Which is a polite way of saying bollocks.
Dennill. Let's invent it
Must be a week for Venn diagrams. And I really out to do something about Sweet Cicely (does it hybridise with fennel and dill? Or Dennel and Phil, as I like to call them?)
No hybridising as far as I am aware so get em in sharpish if you know what's good for you. And what's not to love about a Venn diagram
def need to have a larger patch of sweet cicely
This is always the case no matter how much you have
I don't know whether its ok to say this, but I'm loving the rain at the minute. Admittedly here it is more April showers, a short sharp burst and then a bit of sun. But I am quite enjoying it. What is the history of asparagus? It makes me sad that it has very little acquaintances, does it exude something that makes it less friendly and more prone to growing on its own?
It is NOT ok to say this I'm afraid - you must be in Morocco or similar if you are having SUNSHINE. Consider yourself on a yellow card, and no mistake. Asparagus is a seashore plant originally, and just hates any competition, so you have to keep it weed-free, with nothing taking valuable resources from its space...I'm not that keen in bare soil!
well, that's timely - I am working out my raised bed plans and I now know I don't need an asparagus bed. Its rubbish dropping from having a few acres to a normal garden sometimes.
Sweet Cicely is added to the plans though... I didn't know it grew that tall
I know what you mean about reducing space but I also love it - it means I have to be really questioning of what makes it and what doesn't, and how to interplant etc. Sweet cicely is more often 70cm or so but can get to a metre if given a seemingly random mix of love and ignoring
I'm mourning the probable demise of my sweet cicely. I'm assuming if it's not put its head above ground by now, that's it.
I think that's a fair assumption, unless you are in the coldest of dark spots but even then, I suspect the eternal wetness has got the better of it
It's woken up, hooray, obviously a touch of warmth was all it wanted.
Before I have even read this I am well into that pan ! I could see myself wafting around the kitchen shouting ‘eh lad, fancy a tortilla?’ … husband would be going ‘yer-what?’.
How could he not fancy a tortilla!
Haha tortilla are what we dip into guacamole …. Like Doritos (other brands are available I guess)
What a delicious thing to read during what seems like endless rain here, too. Thanks!
Thank you Anna
Love the catalyst thought for sweet cecily - grows everywhere and never knew what to do with it - now I know: give it a friend!
What a great way of putting it!