Sunflower shoots

Pousses de tournesol

What it is

They are grown from black oil sunflower seed, the same seed pressed for cooking oil and sold as bird food, and cut at eight to twelve days, before the first true leaf appears. That thick seed leaf is where the oil went, which is why they taste of hazelnut and have the body to be dressed like a salad rather than scattered like a garnish.

In the kitchen

Pull off any seed husks still clamped to the leaves before serving: they are bitter and they do not soften. Cut once the true leaf shows and the shoots turn bitter too, so buy them with two fat seed leaves and nothing between them.

Goes with

Lemon Hazelnut oil Parmesan Avocado Radish Sunflower seed

Same species

Jerusalem artichoke Sunflower lecithin Sunflower honey Sunflower oil Sunflower seed

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