Sea purslane ✦

Obione

What it is

Halimione portulacoides carpets the creek banks of the upper salt marsh, where its silvery leaves are coated in bladder cells that store the salt the plant pulls out of seawater. That coating is what you taste: the seasoning sits on the outside of the leaf, not in the sap.

In the kitchen

Treat it as salt rather than as a vegetable: a handful stirred through at the end replaces the seasoning of a whole dish. Rinsing it under fresh water washes the salinity straight off.

Goes with

Butter Lemon Sea bass Olive oil Scallop Dill Shallot

In season alongside

Salt marsh lamb Japanese abalone Caper berries Matjes herring Irish moss Mozuku

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