Discoveries made in Crete (Part 3) - Wild greens (horta). A few years ago I went to the Uncivilisation Festival organised by The Dark Mountain Project. The premise of the festival was that civilisation is coming to an end (it was a fun weekend) and we needed to prepare to live in a much more simple and communal way. Ostensibly I was there to participate in a discussion of alternative forms of education (another story). In reality I was there for a bit of jibber-jabber with some mates. I remember 3 things in particular - the composting toilet, the primal singing in the wood (we gave this one a miss but couldnt avoid the caterwauling) and the foraging sessions. One thing I learnt - dont collect your nettles from alleyways beside pubs. Anyway, I was reminded of foraging when we were introduced to wild greens in Crete. I only tired them once but really enjoyed them. David warned me that they vary quite a lot from taverna to taverna. This seems inevitable since wild greens are basically plants that grow uncultivated in all sorts of places, ranging from roadsides, mountainsides and open fields and, according to one source I found, there are over 100 varieties of suitable edible weeds. More conservative estimates limit the range to 25. This has been a staple of the Cretan diet, in hard times and good times, and research suggests it is an important rich source of antioxidant nutrients in the Mediterranean miracle diet. The article below gives the low down and makes very interesting reading. Ive found a couple of other relevant web sites including one on wild greens in the UK. Ill add these to comments below. This is undoubtedly something else I will have a go at in due course, but not before making a will.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 15:56:37 +0000
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