Sorrel is magic! It has such an unusual taste, so exuberant! It is a bit sour like lemons, but it also has a green taste.
My dad has some in his garden which he had never really touched except to move it, from one place to another, keeping it for no reason. So, of course, I decided to cook some. No disaster possible! Wait actually disasters in the kitchen are always possible! Well, anyway, this lead to a delicious surprise!
OK, so as you’ll see below, my recipes aren’t pretty! I think I might actually specialize in non instagrammable recipes! But wait, I’m sure plenty of people are already doing that!?! It’s bound to be in the world of Insta! Let’s see?! 🤔 Maybe, in addition I’m going to specialize in impossible/ weird recipes, because the main ingredient might be hard or even impossible to find! My last one was with Jerusalem artichokes and it feels like I may be on the right tracks!
So anyway, let me remind you that I’m #NotaFoodBlogger. Just need to make it clear because of the “recipe (s)” that follow! 😉
Finding Sorrel isn’t that easy!
Let’s make another thing clear: Sorrel isn’t uncommon, most people use it to whisk a sauce for their salmon. Some it raw in salads.
It’s a very versatile plant!
Unfortunately, it isn’t a plant you’ll easily find in supermarkets. I don’t understand why because the kind my dad has is very sturdy. But most kind are much smaller and probably more fragile. So head on to your farmer’s market to score this beauty! Maybe…
Another option might be to forage it. Google it, wild sorrel is something you have probably seen while walking your doggo. However please do note that I will take no responsibility if you forage the wrong plant and kill yourself in the process. I haven’t managed to become an expert forager either, despite my wish to do so.
The sorrel my dad grows
The sorrel my dad grows seems to be called ‘Oseille large de Belleville‘. yes it is French. What can I say!
It is large indeed! It does have entirely green leaves and red stems.
The other common garden sorrel is the red sorrel. Red stems again and red veins. Very pretty kind indeed!
Sorrel gratin recipe and variations!
A little bit of oil in the pan, some crushed garlic, maybe some tofu bits. Stir until the garlic is cooked. Add seasoning.
Wash your sorrel and cut in chunks, add to the pan and …. watch it shrink like magic!
From its beautiful bright green, it will wilt and turn brownish. This is less magical but there is nothing you can do about it!
I had read that by using a cast iron pan, the wilting doesn’t happen as much, I can confirm it isn’t the case. I tried!
Anyway, from a massive amount of sorrel filling up your pan, you are now left with a mushy mix which barely covers the bottom of the pan. If you ever felt cheated by baby spinach, try cooking sorrel! You are in for some disappointment!!
Add some cream and pour your mixture into a small dish. At that point, you’ve realized you cooked a side dish anyway! Cover with vegan cheese (or crushed hazelnuts!) and put in the said oven for a little while, just to melt the cheese away.
And get ready to be surprised!
So, I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of the last gratin I made. I forgot! It was taken off the oven and eaten before I remembered! 😋
But as mentioned above I wanted to try cooking some in my cast iron pan, to see if it makes a difference. Again it doesn’t but here are the pictures of the sorrel I cooked at home!
On one side you have some mashed potatoes and carrots (with a dash of cumin) and the other side the same sort of sorrel preparation as above. The cream I made is cashew based and I added some vegan parmesan and a bit of hazelnut powder because I use hazelnut powder a lot. I run out of time, so I didn’t put it in the oven to get that a slightly crusty top. Still delicious!! And yeah, really really #NotaFoodBlogger!
This is so un-pretty!! I tried to make it better by using some fresh cilantro! Did that work?! 🤣
My partner is very trusting because if someone I didn’t know tried to serve me something that looked like this, I would certainly hesitate to eat it!
Beautiful Things 