Thank you all for the information about dandelion and burdock. I'm astounded that I never heard of it before now, seeing that I once was afflicted with an English wife, and lived in England for some time. I'll put it on my bucket list of things to try, though I wonder if I will appreciate the taste, not having had it as a child.

As an aside, I recall my British in-laws coming to the States and recoiling with disgust when they first tried our "Dr. Pepper" soft drink. To me it tasted fine, having grown up with it. To them it tasted "HORRID".

There are all kinds of delicious "weeds" that you can readily find out in your lawn and garden. We have two tortoises living in our backyard and they just forage among whatever grows there. Most of what they eat is edible for humans as well, and often quite tasty.

Most of what they eat is edible for humans as well, and often quite tasty.>

And so are the toroises!

You are not allowed in my garden PalenQ. ;)

When you go to eat weeds, they are instead referred to as "edible wild plants."

FMT - would never eat a tortoise myself but I live on a large pond and some newly arrived Chinese folks were fishing for the very very large turtles we have in the pond - snapping turtles which can grow to be very very large and decades old - i consider it a sacrilege to angle for such old and noble creatures but to them it was just another food source - they were told that it was not allowed - they just did not understand or would not have been doing it. Culture clash - I guess everything that moves in China is fair game for the table, including dogs and cats in the far western provinces!

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.>

flanneur - thanks as usual for the erudite eloquent take on dandelion-dock brew - maybe you can capitalize on it for the American market - if enough booze in it it could be a quirky thing that takes off! You could make zillions off weeds from your Cotswold estate perhaps!

I remember my father, whose parents were French, going out into our front yard to collect dandelions for salad that he would serve usually after dinner. Who knows what one might find in a "salade mixte"?

Wow - she's been eating pis-en-lit salads practically every meal - dandelions nearly extinct in my garden - she loves em!

A casual glance could easily assume dandelion leaves were rocket.

The Greeks eat dandelion leaves amongst other weeds, it is called horta which is a generic term for greens, usually wild. They are delicious. Steamed dandelions are quite bitter but with olive oil and lemon juice very tasty. They appear on restaurant menus sometimes.

I know this thread is about dandelions, but since herbs were mentioned in the title, I feel an imperious need to mention how wonderful fresh tarragon is. When I was living with my grandparents in Lorraine, my grandmother often asked me to go out and get some sprigs from the tarragon bush that grew on the sunny side of the garage wall across the garden.

She would chop the leaves into salad, but she would also use it when baking veal or pork among other things, not to mention using it as an element of her marvellous pâtés. Probably a lot of people have tasted tarragon as a dried herb in a jar, but really the fresh leaves will absolutely blow your mind.

It's not just in China that people will eat anything that moves. Poor people in the US, Great Britain and every other country in the world will eat anything they can to survive - turtles, squirrels, alligators, and insects are very tasty, if you know how to prepare them.
Crayfish were promoted as edible protein under Huey P Long's administration, in an effort to keep the people of Louisiana from starving. Now they are consumed by the tons at backyard parties and in fine restaurants - but before Long's program, they were only used as bait.

Unfortunately, Louisiana crayfish were imported to France about 50 years ago and have become an invasive species which is destroying the ecosystem of southwest France, not to mention damaging the sides of canals and waterways with their huge burrows.

Farmers Markets in NYC sell dandelion green for about $3 a bunch. In spring, I make salads with them, using a bacon/mustard/vinegar/shallot dressing. Had this for dinner a few nights ago. It is not just Greeks and Italians who eat dandelion greens!