One Plant at a Time: Alexanders

Today's plant is alexanders. That's the singular. Alexanders, smyrnium olastrum, is a mediterranean plant that was eaten historically in Europe. It fell out of use after the middle ages as celery became a widely eaten food rather than just medicine and fodder. In my garden, alexanders is naturalized. It holds its own against sour grass and will gradually crowd or shade it out, which is reason enough for me to love it.

Alexanders is in the apiaceae, formerly the umbelliferae, the carrot family, which has many plants of significance to humans as food, medicine, and poison, such as parsley, lomatium, lovage, water hemlock, parsnip, fennel, and asafoetida. It has a peculiar taste which may not immediately appeal, not as pleasant as celery, but I can't grow celery. In fact, I can barely grow any vegetables at all, but alexanders thrives untended in my yard and gives me greens for many a meal in the late winter and early spring. Plus, it grows in part shade, which is my yard's version of sunny.

I eat the flower stalks of the second-year plants. They are succulent. The leaves are too bitter for me, though the whole plant is edible. If I see them in time, I pick the stalk as soon the flower buds emerge from the carpet of leaves. You don't really have to be that prompt; if the weather is mild they are still good after the flower opons, so you can let a few more mature if you want to have a meal's worth. I cut them as low as possible, remove the leaves and petioles, and chop the stems into short chunks or long spears. It seems there is a lot of waste, but that's compared to commercial vegetables pre-trimmed on the farm. While chopping I evaluate how much is tender enough to eat, and reject any length that is too tough to slice easily. The buds and young flowers are also tasty, including the little leaves that enfold them, less bitter than the main leaves, and they fill out the meal a little. I generally sauté or steam the stems and the flowers. Often I add them to my Sunday breakfast of eggs and weeds. The plant continues to grow and send up more shoots, though skinnier and less worthwhile for cooking. And besides you might want seeds.

When they first are ready I eat them daily for a short while, then back off to once or twice a week, as the flavor is so distinctive as to be tiresome too often. You can eat it raw, but my habit is to cook everything.