Dandelion greens

Pissenlit

What it is

The French name is a blunt medical observation about its effect on the bladder, and the English one is a corruption of dent-de-lion, for the toothed leaf. Country people gathered it in March as the first green thing after winter.

In the kitchen

Pick or buy it before the plant flowers. Once the yellow head appears the leaves turn harshly bitter and stay that way.

Goes with

Lard Egg White wine vinegar Garlic Shallot Walnut Mustard Black pepper

In season alongside

Fiddlehead fern Fuki (butterbur stalk) Good King Henry Huauzontle Kale Nanohana (rapeseed blossom)

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