France: "Fines Herbes" Include Dandelions?
 

a French friend is visiting and yesterday went out to my yet-to-be-tilled backyard garden and returned with what she said were "fines herbes"! Fines herbes I thought - in that weed patch - what could be 'fines herbes' - or fine herbs - voila - they were dandelions, including the yellow blooms! The other fines herbes I could understand - some chives and mint that she also found - but dandelions? And dandelion flowers?

Q - Are dandelions considered to be 'fines herbes' by the French - do they French routinely eat dandelion greens and blooms - or is my French friend as I suspect a bit out of the loop?

Fines herbes, no, but edible, yes, when young. The Italians eat a lot of this sort of thing, wilted in oil and salt, or in salads.

I suggest you read this.
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/d/dandel08.html

My chef brother says that while there is no exact recipe for fines herbes, it usually includes parsley, tarragon, chervil and chives. Marjoram is occasionally included in fines herbes as well.

I assumed the "fines" referred to their being chopped fine. No reason why that shouldn't include whatever you like that's to hand, surely? You could try nasturtiums too for a bit of a peppery kick.

"Salad" greens maybe. Fines herbs, probably not. but they should be very young--not to the bloom stage. But to each his own.

<i>it usually includes parsley, tarragon, chervil and chives.</i>

I would agree with your brother.

French markets do sell dandelions for use in salads. I have also seen seed packets of dandelions sold in stores. The French have a unique relationship with something that many of use consider nothing other than a useless weed.

I have always been amused by the French word for dandelions, <i>pissenlit</i>, and it translates exactly as you would think. The French also call it <i>Dent-de-lion</i> or lion´s tooth which is probably from where the English form originated.

Are you sure you didn't misinterpret - did she say "mauvaise herbes"?
Dandelions are eaten, both flowers and leaves, but they are also referred to as "weeds".

Thank you for that link, hetismij2, very interesting, particularly the Dandelion sandwiches.

I can recall having dandelion greens salads as a boy in southern Missouri during Depression times. It was a common and popular dish there; nothing to do with everyone being poor.

Dandelion, dan-de-lion, or in French Piss-en-lit, probably best not to think too much, but for the older man maybe a no-no :-)

Dandelions are salad, not herbs. I spent long happy times with my grandmother cutting them out of the back field for dinner.

And it is true that <I>fines herbes</I> means finely chopped herbs. There is nothing particularly <I>fine</I> about them.

one of my favorite drinks is dandelion and burdock. My aunt used to make her own, but I don't have her recipe so have to make do with the commercial stuff when I can find it.

hetismij - thanks for the informative link - have eaten dandylions before but never thought of eating the flower - Q - do Brits eat dandelions like the French - routinely or do they consider them as an edible weed?

Even though eating flowers has become fashionable in France, I have never eaten a dandelion flower for the simple reason that I was taught that by the time a dandelion blooms, it is far too late to use the leaves for salad. You have to go for the little dandelion plants that are just beginning to develop.

You have to go for the little dandelion plants that are just beginning to develop.>

ah now getting the nuances - the big old rather tough dandelions my French brought in with very mature but not over mature flowers may not be what typical French would do (and as my son says of his mother - in no way is she typically French - even though her French roots go back hundreds of years at least!

We have similar memories, Kerouac. My Mom would be cooking dinner and would call out to me, "Son, I need some Dandelions for salad to night. Go gather me enough for dinner." I would whine and grumble, but actually rather enjoyed it.

Hetismij, what kind of drink is dandelion and burdock? Never heard of it. Is it a wine, liqueur, or non-alcoholic?

Dandelion and burdock was a folk herbal drink, made by fermenting leaves (and sometimes roots) of the burdock and dandelions.

I suspect it once had medicinal claims: by the end of the nineteenth century, with sugar plentiful and cheap, it began being made on industrial quantities - usually sweetened, carbonated and bottled, and usually dispensing with the vegetables.

It was latched onto by the temperance movement at a time there were even non-alcoholic pubs, but was probably more popular sold through sweet shops in pint bottles at a time soft drink consumption was dominated by children, brands were weak and the flavour mattered more than the brand. Most shops would stock at least lemonade, orangeade, cherryade, cream soda, gingerade, d&b and sarsparilla: there were dozens of small, local businesses making undifferentiated ranges of these drinks.

Though the whole point of these drinks being aimed at children and non-drinkers was that they weren't alcoholic, it's also easy with the fermented drinks like d&b to make the process create alcohol. There was always a small part of d&b manufacturing that belonged more to the traditions of herbal wines, and some modern purists claim they taste better if allowed to retain some alcohol content.

The memory of d&b as an essential part of childhood seems limited these days to Britons (and probably only the English) of the Call the Midwife generation. There is, allegedly, a 19th century tradition that Thomas Aquinas invented it in the 13th century - but no-one's ever shown any evidence for it, Aquinas never came to Britain, there's no Dominican culture of d&b and I've never heard any Italian regarding the drink as anything other than a typical British monstrosity.

The recent re-emergence of these traditional drinks as highly niched brands in Britain (backed by venture capitalists, listings in Waitrose and exotic cocktails in Cotswold gastro-pubs) has resulted in some variants now being alcoholic.

This article churns out the Aquinas nonsense, so it's clearly not been fact checked. But most other things are kind of believable: https://summerfruitcup.wordpress.com...ktails-recipe/

Dandelion and burdock was traditionally served in chippies
Fentimans make a version which is rather nice. We have a local veg box delivered. It always contains mixed leaves which we refer to as ugos or unidentified green objects. It often contains dandelion leaves and sometimes nasturtium leaves.

Dandelion & Burdock is available in most supermarkets in this area as a carbonated drink in 2L bottles. I still buy it occasionally as a memory of childhood, though I get the "No added sugar" version.

For "real" D & B, you need to visit Fitzpatricks in Haslingden in the Rossendale Valley. http://www.mrfitzpatricks.com/ just a 15 minute drive from me.