what does this taste like?

mardatha

I'm planning the Mardywotsit veg garden for 2012 I was making a list and came across these things (green food is NOT my thing!) Could you tell me if at all possible what they taste like or what you add them to/cook them with?
Kohl Rabi
Plantain
Sorrel
Endive
And this isnt the greenfingered forum but if any of these are hard to grow then please tell me before I go any further TY!

lickylonglips

kohlrabi tastes a bit like turnip or swede with a cabbagy or cauliflowery note. it's good in a soup - the germans go mad for it!

rinabean

Kohlrabi is delicious! You can use the leaves like any mild greens. The actual kohlrabi itself can be stewed or roasted like a turnip (and it's great in soup!) or you can eat it raw like a non-spicy radish (it has a similar texture, but a mild celery-like taste).

Will plantains grow in Scotland?? They are savoury, starchy bananas (used in most ways you'd use a potato).

I've never had sorrel or endive, so I can't help there!

valk_scot

Kohl Rabi...wishy washy turnip
Plantain...stodgy tasteless banana
Sorrel...tasty salad type thing but you don't need much.
Endive...slightly bitter salad ingredient, very crunchy.


I grow the curly endive variety but the rest are a bit of a waste of space and time imho.

*iluvmymini*

Kohlrabi makes a delicious creamy textured soup, my kids call them 'Green Aliens' because they look like the aliens from 'Toy Story'!

nuatha

Sorrel, eat the young leaves in mixed salads, sharp almost sour but very pleasant. I'd use the older leaves for the hens, complete with the caterpillars they seem to accumulate. I often nibble on wood sorrel if I find it wild.
Endive is a form of chicory and adds a bitter note to a salad personally I tend to avoid it.
Plantain, two types spring to mind, the banana relative mentioned above, which is a tropical plant and I would imagine very challenging to grow (hard work and big heated greenhouses). The other is generally known as Greater Plantain or Broadleaf (and sometimes as Waybread) is widely regarded as a weed. It was used to make a cream for stings in the BBC's Grow Your Own Drugs. Not one I've tried eating.
Kohlrabi, easy to grow and worth it. Looks weird, tastes good and you can use the leaves (treat as spring greens) as well as the bulb

cooking-mama

mardatha wrote: »

I'm planning the Mardywotsit veg garden for 2012 I was making a list and came across these things (green food is NOT my thing!) Could you tell me if at all possible what they taste like or what you add them to/cook them with?
Kohl Rabi
Plantain
Sorrel
Endive
And this isnt the greenfingered forum but if any of these are hard to grow then please tell me before I go any further TY!

Ive only tried the first and last on your list,
Kohl Rabi...raw,i thought had a slightly green apple taste...cooked= No taste.
Endive.."bitter lettuce" taste(to me)

mardatha

I think this type of plantain is a weed that was eaten long ago and is being re-introduced, its long thin green leaves . - Thank god other people see the green veg world as I do... in the catalogue I was looking at, they were in raptures of pleasure over every single wee green leaf LOL- thought they couldnt possibly taste that good :rotfl::rotfl: The hens will have most of it anyway I think.

nuatha

mardatha wrote: »

I think this type of plantain is a weed that was eaten long ago and is being re-introduced, its long thin green leaves . - Thank god other people see the green veg world as I do... in the catalogue I was looking at, they were in raptures of pleasure over every single wee green leaf LOL- thought they couldnt possibly taste that good :rotfl::rotfl: The hens will have most of it anyway I think.

That will be Greater Plantain then.
It amazes me what some people will get worked up about.

westcoastscot

I like kohl rabi - don't have the soil or growing season for anything other than tiny turnips but these seem to grow quickly and are tasty where you would normally use turnip/swede. Love the green leafy bits too - an extra wee bit of vitamins!

Don't know the others, although wood sorrel is edible (taste-wise I mean) - not sure i'd give over a patch of garden to it though - I prefer perpetual spinach and rocket that I know are reliable and tasty.

WCS

Yolina

I'm French, we use endive mostly in salads (great mixed with red apples and/or walnut pieces) or in a gratin (with a sauce Mornay... Yum) The really bitter part is mostly the inner bottom part (hope that makes sense), so I usually dig out out that bit with a sharp knife, you also need to rinse them quickly under water - if they're left to soak they become very bitter.