A Lesser-Known Herb: Salad Burnet

Emily Han
Emily Han
Emily Han is a Los Angeles-based recipe developer, educator, herbalist, and author of Wild Drinks & Cocktails and co-author of Wild Remedies. For recipes and classes, check out her personal site.
Follow
published Apr 9, 2012
pinterest
comments
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
Post Image
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

While visiting a roadside

honor stand

Have you tasted salad burnet (Sanguisorba minor)? Its fern-like scalloped leaves have a delicate cucumber flavor, which makes it a lovely addition to salads, as the name implies, and an array of other dishes from tea sandwiches to light soups, fish, cheese spreads, and even iced tea and lemonade. Although burnet is not well known today, it was commonly grown in Medieval kitchen gardens and was used medicinally to heal wounds and protect against the plague. In the Elizabethan age, the herb was used to garnish glasses of wine.

We enjoyed our first nibble of salad burnet so much that we are now growing it in our container herb garden. The plant is a perennial that will return year after year. It doesn’t dry well and the leaves can turn bitter as they age, so only fresh, tender leaves are eaten.

Related: Fava Greens: A Delicacy of Spring

(Images: Emily Ho)

Filed in:
herbs
Ingredient