Water caltrop ✦

Mâcre

What it is

It is named after the caltrop, the spiked iron thrown on the ground to lame cavalry, which is very nearly what the horned seed looks like. Trapa was a European food long before it was an Asian one — the nuts turn up in Neolithic lake-dwelling deposits — and it is now rare or protected across much of the continent while Chinese markets sell it by the kilo as ling jiao.

In the kitchen

Never eat it raw: in its Asian growing waters it can carry the fluke Fasciolopsis buski, and the horns are sharp enough to be a hazard in themselves. Boil twenty-five to thirty minutes in salted water, then peel with a knife — the flesh should be chalky, never squeaky.

Goes with

Pork Soy sauce Ginger Shiitake Chicken Star anise Shaoxing wine

In season alongside

Arbutus berry Cabbage Cauliflower Coco de Paimpol Elephant garlic Hedgehog mushroom

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