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The article also mentioned a former staple of the Roman dinner table called lovage; this herb is still commonly used in Romanian cooking where it is known as le
by dnh44 7y ago
The article also mentioned a former staple of the Roman dinner table called lovage; this herb is still commonly used in Romanian cooking where it is known as leuștean. It's quite tasty if you ever get the chance.
- Nursie 7y agoIt is known in the UK as well, but rarely used. There is even a Lovage liqueur though I've never tried it.
- grenoire 7y agoAlso following the liquor's name is the album Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By, by Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, etc.) under the pseudonym Lovage. It makes reference to the liquor itself in a tongue-in-cheek fake advertisement intermezzo.
- DonaldFisk 7y agoLovage is a perennial. It's hard to find in England, but I've bought whole plants at garden centres, as well as at a market in Wallonia (where it's called livèche). I haven't seen it sold as a herb in shops. It tastes like very strong celery, but is more fragrant. It should not be confused with a different herb, called ajwain, whose seeds are sometimes sold as lovage in shops which sell indian spices, where you can also buy hing, which is asafoetida, the silphium substitute.
- Angostura 7y agoIf anyone wants to find where to buy it in the UK https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/herbs/lovage https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/herbs/lovage
- jajag 7y agoIt grows well in Britain, and it's very good in shepherds pie.
- 9dev 7y agoIt's quite common in Germany too, goes as "Liebstöckel" here. Most commonly used for soups, stews and salads
- ihalip 7y agoMaybe not that common any more - I don't remember seeing it anywhere for the past 10 years or so.
- smitty1e 7y agoAlso great if you can find it is feldsalat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerianella_locusta https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerianella_locusta
- Agentlien 7y agoMy wife introduced me to that. I believe it was when we were living in Belgium. Very tasty and not easy to come by in Sweden.
- unwind 7y agoHuh? Following the Wikipedia link to the Swedish page, it turns out "feldsalat" is called "maché" commercially in Sweden, it's really a standard thing to find in the produce corners. See [1] for instance. [1] https://www.mathem.se/varor/machesallat/sallad-mache-70g-klass1 https://www.mathem.se/varor/machesallat/sallad-mache-70g-kla...
- Agentlien 7y agoYes, you're right. My wording was a bit stronger than intended. It's certainly available, but not as popular as other types of lettuce such as iceberg, romaine or cosmopolitan. To the point that I didn't know what it was and always looked past it before living in Belgium.
- pvaldes 7y agoValerianella is a late winter/spring wild salad. Equivalent to lattice. Not much flavour, but handy.
- Nux 7y agoYes, lovage is great, surprised it's not more popular. Growing it in my garden as it's not in any of the UK supermarkets.
- fasteo 7y agoLevistico in Spain, rare to find
- elmo2you 7y agoTrivia addition: Lovage called "lavas" in Dutch, and I remember it growing wild in abundance, where I grew up (North part of The Netherlands). Colloquially the herb was often called "maggi-plant", because it smells very much like the popular Maggi seasoning product (also called Maggi Aroma), which itself actually does not contain any lovage. Since Maggi seasoning has been popular/convenient in kitchens throughout Europe (and beyond), for more than 50 years, the decline in use of lovage might be in part attributed the popularity of Maggi seasoning. However, that's of course pure speculation.