Ice plant

Ficoïde glaciale

What it is

The glassy beads are epidermal bladder cells, where the plant parks the salt it pulls out of saline ground — what bursts on the tongue is its waste-disposal system. In the Canary Islands it was once burned for the soda in its ash, the same trade that made agretti valuable to Venetian glassmakers.

In the kitchen

Never cook it and never dress it more than a minute ahead: heat and salt both burst the water cells and leave a limp, wet leaf. It brings its own salinity, so take salt out of whatever it sits beside.

Goes with

Olive oil Lemon Oyster Scallop Cucumber Dill Shallot Sea bass

In season alongside

Purslane Reflexed stonecrop Begonia petals Buckler-leaf sorrel Buck’s-horn plantain Cockle

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