Sorrel

Latin name: Rumex acetosa

🌱 Days to Sprout: 

😋 Plant Food: after true leaves

✂️ Thin to: 

🍅 Days to Maturity: 

💡 Light Zone: Maximum (Center) Moderate (Peripheral) or Minimum (Top & Bottom)

📏 Plant Size: 

💚 Care Level: Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced

A popular feature in French cuisine, Sorrel was used by the ancient Romans and Greeks to help digestion after heavy meals. Sorrel was also used medicinally to aid skin conditions, liver conditions, and fever. Its Latin name refers to the leaves’ acidic, lemony-tart flavor.

Sorrel is high in vitamin C, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, and magnesium. Its intensely tart flavor is often described as an acidic, refreshing, spinach-like astringency. The leaves retain their complex flavor even when cooked.

Sorrel traditionally pairs well with whitefish, but its acidity makes it an excellent addition to any dish where you’re looking to add complexity. Sorrel can help boost flavor in soups, and can even be added fresh to salads or as a garnish.

💡 Temperature: Prefers cooler temperatures (60-70°F), and if placed in higher temperatures, it will turn bitter and bolt.

✂️ Pruning: Check the roots monthly and trim any that are brown or extending past the yPod. Snip any yellow or brown leaves if they appear.

🥬 Harvest: For ongoing harvest, snip the outer leaves just above the base of the plant once they reach 4 inches tall to let the inner leaves continue to grow. Leave 1/3 of the plant if you want it to keep growing. To harvest all at once, wait until it reaches maturity, then harvest from the base.

French-Style Sorrel Soup

Recipe source: www.honest-food.net 

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

• 1/2 cup chopped green or bunching onions

• 4-6 cups of chopped sorrel, packed

• Salt

• 3 tablespoons flour

• 1 quart chicken stock or vegetable stock

• 2 egg yolks

• 1/2 cup cream

Instructions

1. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the green onions or ramps and turn the heat to medium-low. Cover the pot and cook gently for 10 minutes.

2. While the onions are cooking, pour the stock into another pot and bring to a simmer.

3. Turn the heat up, add the sorrel leaves and a healthy pinch of salt to the pot with the onions, and stir well. When the sorrel is mostly wilted, turn the heat back to medium-low, cover, and cook for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Mix in the flour and cook over medium heat for 3 minutes.

4. Whisk in the hot stock, stirring constantly. Bring this to a simmer.

5. To finish the soup, whisk together the egg yolks and cream. Temper the mixture by ladling a little soup into it with one hand, while you whisk the egg-cream mix with the other. Repeat this three times. (You are doing this to prevent the eggs from scrambling).

6. Now start whisking the soup. Pour the hot egg-cream-soup mixture into the pot with the soup, whisking all the way. Add the final tablespoon of butter.

7. Let this cook below a simmer for 5 minutes. Do not let it boil or the soup will break. Serve at once with bread and a nice white wine, or a floral beer like a Belgian.

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