Rampion ✦

Raiponce

What it is

Rampion is the plant behind the Grimm tale, since Rapunzel is the German name for Campanula rapunculus, the salad the pregnant wife craved from the witch's garden. Root and rosette are eaten together, the slim white root raw like a radish, and it is a bellflower with no relation to chicory or to the wild ramps it is sometimes confused with.

In the kitchen

Scrub rather than peel, because the skin is thin and the milky, faintly nutty flavour sits just beneath it. Dress root and leaves together raw with walnut oil and a soft-boiled egg; cooking flattens it into a bland parsnip.

Goes with

Walnut oil Walnut Egg Lamb’s lettuce Cream Chervil Lemon

In season alongside

Chabichou du Poitou Selles-sur-Cher Pauillac lamb Bintje potato Boudin blanc Brousse du Rove

Something wrong here, or missing? Tell us