Friday, May 17, 2013

Royal purple?

In my small Native Sussex Fernery outside our kitchen window the fronds of the royal fern, Osmunda regalis, are climbing rapidly.  The taller ones rather remind me of Henry Moore's famous sculptures of Three Standing Figures.

These shoots are edible and were/are an ingredient in namul a dish of steamed vegetables used in the cuisine of the Korean royal court.  In Japan they are called zenmai.  In the interests of gastronomy I boiled a stalk with head for 5 minutes in water with bicarbonate of soda (it turned the water pale mauve), then rinsed it and ate it.  It was very bland with a faint nutty taste, but not unpleasant.  A good vehicle for oriental seasonings maybe.

As the picture shows they are a distinctive purple colour.  The name 'royal' is said to derive from the imposing size of the fern when fully mature, though mine are not that impressive, so I wonder if the name comes from the colour of these young stems.  Purple has long been associated with royalty.  On the other hand, as my plant came from a local nursery stall, it may be that I have the form 'purpurescens', though the leaves when expanded are plain green.

 IMG_1664a

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Appreciation to my father who shared with me about this web site, this web
site is actually remarkable.

Also visit my blog: Http://Www.Kunst-Am-Wege.De/Index.Php?Title=Benutzer_Diskussion:LorriHuan

Anonymous said...

And powering its various affairs will be the dual core Nvidia Tegra 2.
9 is also razor thin with the same great features as
the Galaxy Tab 10. "Many eyes will likely be on them to determine if they'll pull the rabbit out with the hat," Enderle
mentioned.

Also visit my blog post samsung galaxy tab

Anonymous said...

If you want to grow your know-how only keep visiting this web site and be updated with the most up-to-date news
update posted here.

Also visit my page :: ミュウミュウ

Anonymous said...

S Voice has been advertised to do certain things Siri couldn't, like launch a camera app or a voice recording app, however I don't think I was able to get much
out of S Voice. With release of the handset
comes Samsung Galaxy S3 deals. 99 for a 5 GB limit, and 5 cents for every additional
MB that is used.

Feel free to surf to my web-site: samsung s3

Anonymous said...

Ronnie Williams is a staff writer for Wireless - Phone - Gallery - offering Latest
and Discounted google nexus accessories (also known as wireless google nexus one
accessories) and a lot more accessories for Samsung,
Blackberry, Apple, Nokia and Sony Ericsson. All five screens are fully customizable
with widgets, shortcuts, apps, and photos. If there were dual cameras or a rear facing camera you could center
things and get accurate photos.

Feel free to surf to my web blog nexus 7 tablet

Anonymous said...

9 fps while battery life is rated at about 850 shots.
Some as well as components of the Nikon D700 are these:.
According to Chung, the Nikon has the edge for detail
and for the addition of a crop mode while canon has the advantage for lack
of moire and high ISO performance.

Review my weblog ... canon 5d mark iii