Oyster leaf ✦

Feuille d’huître

What it is

Mertensia maritima grows on North Atlantic shingle and tastes of raw oyster because it makes dimethyl sulphide, the compound behind the smell of the sea at low tide. It was a forager's curiosity until Nordic kitchens put it on plates in the 2000s, and it is now scarce enough on wild beaches to be legally protected across parts of its range.

In the kitchen

Heat destroys it: the sulphur note is gone within seconds and the leaf goes grey and limp. Serve it raw and whole, unwashed if the source allows, laid on something cold.

Goes with

Scallop Cucumber Lemon Caviar Oyster Dill Crème fraîche

In season alongside

Mozuku Soft-shell clam Spider crab Wedge clam Wakame Albacore

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