Red orache ✦

Arroche rouge

What it is

European gardeners grew orache as their summer green for centuries and abandoned it when spinach arrived, which crops earlier and does not bolt through July. The crimson form was kept on for its colour: the leaves bleed into a pale sauce or a dough and stain it pink.

In the kitchen

Cook it covered in nothing but its own water and keep acid away — a squeeze of lemon turns the crimson to dull brown. Salt it lightly, since the leaf is already saline.

Goes with

Beetroot Goat cheese Olive oil Egg Walnut Ricotta Butter

Same species

Orach

In season alongside

Amethyst deceiver Bay bolete Bintje potato Broccoli Cabbage Cauliflower

Something wrong here, or missing? Tell us