Herb - Sweet cicely
among my cllection of herbs I have been growing for several years is Sweet cicely. Pretty ferny foliage and white flowers at this time of year followed by black seeds.I have been told that you can use it to reduce the amount of suger when cooking rhubarb, but are there any other uses for the foliage and the seeds? ( It's gone mad this year and I will have to dig it out if I cant find more uses for it.- there is only so much rhubarb I can eat.)
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I planted a sweet cicely in my garden last year. It was one of several different plants which I bought when I attended a herb course at the Weald & Downland museum. The lady told us that you could use it to sweeten rhubarb but I hate rhubard! I ended up nibbling it occasionally when I was gardening. I was pleased to see that it is shooting up again now. I would also be interested in more uses for it.
It works on blackcurrants too but they're not around at the same time so I sometimes use it on frozen blackcurrants left over from last year's crop. I mostly just grow it cos it's attractive and does well in a corner of my garden where not much else does.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
Thanks Koalagirl and Obelixx for your comments. Looks as if its only property is to sweeten tart fruit with the leaves, but I'm hoping someone will come up with a use for the large amount of seed the plant produces.
Try it with tomatoes for an extra twist in a soup, a salad or a water ice.
Anna
Read this.
http://www.laetitiamaklouf.com/2010/05/sweet-cicely-for-custard/
Sounds rather nice.
This plant is spreading madly in a partially shady spot in my garden. I like it as a weed suppressant and for its foliage and flowers. i've used it on rhubarb and blackcurrants but this custard looks great.
Thanks Berghill.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw