Almost the first plant we saw on our “wildflowers of Malham Tarn” walk was sweet cicely (Myrrhis odorata). This is a handsome umbellifer with fern-like leaves. There are of course many umbellifers, some of which – such as hemlock and hemlock water dropwort – are poisonous, so you need to be sure of your identification. The key to sweet cicely is the grey patches on the leaves and the fact that the leaves, when crushed, smell of aniseed.
Our guide told us that all parts of the plant are edible and have many uses. The seedpods taste of aniseed and are reputed to be good for stomachs. I tried a few – sweet and delicious, but then I like aniseed! The leaves can be used to make tea (not sure what it tastes of – presumably aniseed as well). You can use the stems & leaves when cooking tart fruits such as rhubarb or gooseberries to reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe. You can also use the seeds instead of cloves in apple pies. What he didn’t tell us was how much stalk replaces how much sugar, so I’ve googled a few recipes for you.
Rhubarb crumble (from River Cottage)
Ingredients
For the topping
200g plain flour
A pinch of salt
140g caster sugar
2–4 tsp ground ginger, to taste
250g flaked almonds
200g cold, unsalted butter, cubed
For the base
750g rhubarb, trimmed
3 tbsp sweet cicely leaves, finely chopped, or 3 tbsp caster sugar
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. For the topping, put the flour, salt, sugar and ginger together into a food processor and blitz briefly to combine. Add the flaked almonds and process just enough to break them up but not turn them to dust. Add the butter and process until well mixed.
The crumble should be in fudgy clods rather than in fine crumbs or, conversely, in one solid lump. Getting this right may take a little tweaking as the almonds can vary considerably. If the mix is too dry, add a little more butter; if it’s in one or two lumps, add a little flour.
For the base, cut the rhubarb into 5cm lengths, spread evenly in a baking dish and sprinkle with the sweet cicely or sugar. Scatter the clods of crumble mix evenly over the fruit, letting them sit where they fall rather than pressing them down. Bake in the centre of the oven for 30 minutes or until the topping is golden with a few darker brown patches. Serve with cream or fresh custard.
Serves 4
Variations
Apple crumble paired with blackberries, a few handfuls of raspberries, blueberries, or a few slices of fragrant quince all make great alternatives to the original rhubarb. Plums, mulberries, gooseberries and apricots make lovely crumbles too.
Rhubarb and rose jam with sweet cicely (from http://www.shabbychick.me.uk)
Ingredients
1 kg rhubarb (untrimmed weight)
900g granulated sugar
juice of 1 lemon
a few sweet cicely leaves
100ml apple juice
1 dessert spoon rose water
Method
Trim and wash the rhubarb, cutting into short lengths. Toss with the sugar in a preserving pan and pour over the lemon juice and apple juice. Cover and leave overnight, or at least for a few hours to draw out the juices from the rhubarb.
Add the sweet cicely to the rhubarb. Slowly bring the contents of the pan to the boil so that the sugar dissolves, then boil rapidly until you reach setting point.
Remove from the heat, remove the sweet cicely and add the rose water. Return to heat and bring to boil again quickly. Remove from heat, tasting and adding a little more lemon juice or rose water (although remember you’re after a lovely fragrant jam, not creating perfume) to taste. Put in warm, sterilized jars and seal.
Sweet cicely and raspberry jelly (Mark Hix)
Serves 4
Ingredients
400ml water
200g caster sugar
A handful of sweet cicely, plus some leaves for garnish if you wish
100ml Sauternes or a good dessert wine
Juice of ½ a lemon
15g leaf gelatine (5 sheets)
100g raspberries
Method
Bring the water, sugar and sweet cicely to the boil, then remove from the heat and leave to infuse for an hour. Meanwhile, soak the gelatine leaves in a shallow bowl of cold water for a minute, or until soft. Squeeze out the water, add to the infusion while it’s still warm, and stir until dissolved. Once cool, add the Sauternes, then put the jelly somewhere cool – but do not let it set.
Fill some individual jelly moulds with half of the raspberries, then pour in half of the cooled jelly. Put in the fridge for an hour or so to set, then top up the moulds with the rest of the raspberries and the unset jelly. This allows you to suspend the raspberries in the jelly and ensure that they do not float to the top. Return them to the fridge. To serve, turn out the jellies and serve with organic cream and the puréed raspberries.
Sweet cicely shortbread (by Mark Diacono from A Year at Otter Farm)
INGREDIENTS
100g caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
About 10 sweet cicely seeds (to taste)
200g unsalted butter, softened
300g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
A pinch salt
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 160°C.
Blitz 75g of the sugar with 10 sweet cicely seeds in a coffee grinder or pound in a pestle and mortar. Try the sugar for flavour – it should taste very strongly of sweet cicely. If not, add more. When it’s just a little too strong in flavour, mix in the remaining sugar.
Cream the butter and sweet cicely sugar together until pale and creamy. Sift in the flour with the salt and stir to combine.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a 5–7mm thickness and use a small scone cutter to cut out rounds, stars or other shapes.
Transfer to a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 15–20 minutes until the shortbreads are just starting to lightly brown at the edges. They will still be soft when taken from the oven.
Sprinkle with sugar and leave on the baking sheet for 10 minutes to cool slightly and firm up, then transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely. Store in an airtight tin.
Sweet Cicely & Thyme Crusted Labneh (Vegetarian Society)
Labnah is a thick ‘strained’ yogurt which is so easy to make at home from plain yoghurt and is so versatile it can be flavoured with anything – try pomegranates, walnuts, sweet roasted red peppers, olives, herbs and spices. It can also be served as either a dip, a topping for canapés or as sandwich fillings. But beware – ready-made labnah sold in Middle Eastern delis may contain gelatine. This version uses milder wild thyme, so you will need to use the large amount suggested, and sweet cicely for its wonderful aniseed flavour.
Ingredients
500g pot Natural Bio-yoghurt
1 tbsp sweet cicely seeds or wild fennel seeds, crushed
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
4 tbsp wild fresh thyme, very finely chopped
2 tsp lemon zest, finely grated, or 1 tsp sumac
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Method
To make the labnah, put the yoghurt to drain in a sieve lined with muslin or a J-cloth, set over a bowl. Cover with cling film and place in fridge overnight. This will produce about 250g of labnah. Combine the sweet cicely seeds, toasted sesame seeds, thyme and lemon zest in a bowl.
Carefully turn out the labnah onto a plate, to keep the rounded shape made by the sieve, discarding the drained liquid. Drizzle over the olive oil, and sprinkle the sweet cicely mixture over the dome-shaped labneh.