Farmers Market Product of the Week 05/24/08

Agretti, also known as Salsola Soda, or Opposite Leaved Saltwort, Roscano, or Barba Di Frate (friar's beard in Italian) has the interesting property of thriving when irrigated with salt water, though I am certain that the sample shown here from Star Route Farms in Marin County used POW (plain old water).

I tasted a piece before buying a bunch and can report that agretti is a bit tart (sour), quite crunchy and tends to have a mild salty taste even when watered with POW. Young enough, it can be used raw as a salad green, but more normally it is trimmed from the root, and then blanched for 10 minutes before being incorporated into salads or used as a side vegetable. Also, from personal experience, I can attest to the importance of trimming away all of the light green bottom stalk, as it is woody and tough. The dark green needles are the delectable part.

Here is a nutritional breakdown in Italian, here's a recipe for a Fritatta with Agretti, and here is a link to the Mariquita Farm's Agretti page which is full of links and recipes including this priceless observation:

.... It was really tasty (though the kids thought I made pine needle salad)!