Copius
Sorrel, drawn for Copius

Sorrel

Oseille

Latin nameRumex acetosa
FamilyHerbs
OriginEurope & Western Asia
Season (France)April – September
FlavourSour · Green · Fresh
Typical price (France)2–4 €/botte

What it is

A leaf that tastes of green lemon, beloved of peasant soups for centuries — then, in 1973, the Troisgros brothers laid a barely-cooked salmon escalope on sorrel cream and produced the signature dish of nouvelle cuisine. One acid leaf rewrote French fish cookery.

In the kitchen

It melts to khaki in seconds of heat — that’s normal. Add half in the pan for flavour, the rest raw at the end for colour and bite.

Goes with

Salmon Egg Cream Potato Lentils Butter

Same species

Buckler-leaf sorrel

Also used with

Allis shad Ground elder Shad roe Pouligny-Saint-Pierre Sea trout Selles-sur-Cher

In season alongside

Green almond Nopal Purslane Rhubarb Tomatillo Agretti

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