You don't necessarily have to have lived in the Middle Ages to eat gooseberry. Even today - or especially today more than ever (cultivated vegetables and the like lack nutrients) - this wild herb is valuable. Both its taste and its free availability as well as its healing powers are convincing!
How to use and eat groundweed?
Gardesh can be eaten raw or cooked, with leaves, flowers and fruits being edible. It tastes similar to parsley and spinach and can be used in smoothies, salads, pesto or as a substitute for spinach. It is also an effective medicinal plant for gout, rheumatism and arthritis.
What can you eat from ground goose?
Even the ancient Romans and people suffering from famine in times of war appreciated the greed. They mainly ate its leaves. But the flowers and fruits with the seeds can also be eaten without hesitation. You should only stay away from the roots. They contain a toxic active ingredient.
What does ground greek taste like?
If you eat the goosegrass raw, you will notice that its taste is vaguely reminiscent of parsley. An aroma such as carrot can also be tasted. When cooked, ground goose tastes like spinach. Therefore it is also considered a good substitute for spinach.
Basically, the young plants are milder and more delicate in taste. You should prefer these! The older plants taste spicier, tarter and tougher. They are more suitable for drying and cooking, while the young plants can also be a delicacy raw.
Collection time: Before and during flowering, but also after
Gerdweed has a long growing season. It can often be found here and there even in a mild winter. The best collection time is in spring between April and May. Then the flowering period begins. You can harvest the flowers at flowering time. The fruits and seeds then ripen. Basically, you can harvest the gooseberry all season long.
Using groundweed in the kitchen – preparation ideas
The most common way is to use the leaves. The stems should be removed beforehand. Here are a few ideas for preparations:
- Smoothies
- Juices
- Wild herb quark
- pizza topping
- Pasta sauces
- as spinach with potatoes
- Soup
- Pesto
- Cracker
- Salad
- Scrambled eggs
Use the flowers, fruits and seeds
You can use the gourd flowers for cold water extracts or bread them in a similar way to elderflowers and deep-fry or bake them. The fruits or seeds have a sharp taste and are perfect for salads, for example in combination with nettle seeds, or as a seasoning for stews. It is ideal to grind them with a mortar before use.
Use groundweed as a medicinal plant
In order to be able to use groundweed as a medicinal herb all year round, it can be dried. An aromatic tea can be made from the leaves. This helps with gout, rheumatism and arthritis, among other things.
Tea also has an antispasmodic, blood-cleansing and digestion-stimulating effect. When collecting, be careful not to confuse the gopher with its poisonous counterparts such as hemlock and parsley!
Tip
Giersch is not only extremely he althy for humans. Pets such as guinea pigs and rabbits also benefit from its abundance of nutrients.
