Culinaria: discover the versatile wild yarrow

Yarrow is a perennial wild herb found on many pastures, road sides and waste grounds. Though small, its long bushy clumps of feathery green leaves makes it easy to identify.

As well as being good eaten raw in a salad of different leaves, yarrow makes a wonderfully refreshing tea. It also pairs really well with most white fish.

I usually just clean the little leaves in water and then dress them with some oil and lemon juice. A pinch of sugar will help draw out the aromatic flavour.

Grilled brill dressed with yarrow and some boiled and buttered baby potatoes would make a nice light lunch. You could also dress the potatoes instead with some chopped yarrow, as its leaves taste similar to rosemary. You can always just tell your guests that yarrow is the new rosemary and inspire them all to do a little foraging and cook more with our wild perennials.

Yarrow is deeply embedded in our folklore. People going on a long journey were instructed to pick 10 leaves of the yarrow, throw one away and then put the nine others in a white cloth and tie it with a string around their neck. This would ward off the evil spirits that they might encounter.

The medicinal properties of yarrow were well known to previous generations and it was used regularly as a remedy for colds and fevers. In Romania, its anti-inflammatory effects are still used to help blood circulation disorders. It is collected, dried and sold in the form of a herbal tea.

I find yarrow flavours beef tartare extremely well. Purchase a nice piece of beef fillet and cut it into small cubes. Season with salt, extra virgin rapeseed oil and a nice vinegar. De-stem the yarrow leaves and chop them finely. Fold through the beef. Serve topped with a lightly poached egg yolk and some toast. If you recall the oyster mayonnaise recipe from this column a few months back, you can add a little to the tartare for a deeper, more luxurious flavour.

[ irishtimes.com/food ]