– Buckwheat, young quinoa
After feeding the Andean highland peasants for millennia, quinoa landed among the inhabitants of European cities in 2010, before being settled “Plant of the Year” from the UN in 2013. We were kidnapped for this small gluten-free seed, which now grows in Anjou. Until it became the object of ridicule and symbolized the bobo, inevitably the “eater” of quinoa … It is replaced for a while with a lower case – this seed that gives “A peach from hell” in Mélenchon – has given way to buckwheat. Even gluten-free, but with a more pronounced taste, the small seed that rises can be eaten grilled (kasha) or roasted; as a spice (1), or as an accompaniment to meat or fish.
(1) Breton Gomasio de Rœllinger.
– Wild garlic, young basil
The star of summer, basil, this herb with a strong aroma of Indian origin, accompanies the stainless “tomato-mozzarella” and the pestos of large tables. But lately it has been in competition with a wild plant with long green leaves, reminiscent of lily of the valley. Wild garlic gets its name from the mountain bears, who make their first meal when they leave their cave after a long hibernation. Garlic-flavored plants (hence) arrive in cereals in the spring – at the same time as asparagus, which for example will be smeared with a sour sauce.