Re: Rue the day: Of onions (was: of snails and slugs)

On Tue, 12 Jun 2001, Sally Caves wrote:

> What is "rue" and what do you do with it?
Ruta graveolens. Eat it, in small quantities, as you've noticed.

> 2) "Aromatic herb once used as a soporific, an anti- aphrodisiac,
> and an abortificient if taken in large quantities."
Yes, pregnant women should stay away from it, but the same goes for
parsley; if you're prone to miscarriage and you think you might be
pregnant, you shouldn't have any parsley at all.

> 3) "Oily plant used in gardens, not
> recommended for internal use, highly toxic."
So are most herbs if you eat too much. Cats don't like it, and if you
want the cats to stay out of your herb garden you can make a little
rue hedge.

> We haven't been poisoned, and the taste is strangely
> original.  So, what to do?  Add it to the Teonaht
> spice list?  Use it?
Absolutely.

> Avoid it?  After all, nutmeg is poisonous, too, and can induce
> hallucinations and toxicity if taken in concentrated form.
"In concentrated form" is the operative word. (Nutmeg makes me ill,
even a trace of it; I can eat mace, though, which is the bark of
nutmeg)

> Have any of you ever come across this herb and used
> it culinarily--or heard of it used this way?  Or even
> heard of it?
It's called "wijnruit" in Dutch, and it used to be added to spiced
wine. I'll see if I can find a recipe, I have lots of old cookery
books. It's in our herb patch as well, but we're only just starting
to use the herbs, we were waiting for them to grow a bit. Stew, you
said? That will have to wait until July, we're temporarily vegetarian
:-)

   Irina

--
           Varsinen an laynynay, saraz no arlet rastynay.
irina@valdyas.org (myself)     http://www.valdyas.org/irina/valdyas