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Monk's beard ( Salsola soda L.) is also known by its Italian name Barba di frate and is increasingly found in the culinary world under the term Agretti . Please do not confuse it with crow's foot plantain or staghorn plantain (see below).
Use in the kitchen:
You can eat the (Mediterranean) spring herb monk's beard or agretti (northern Italy) or barba di frate (southern Italy) raw or cooked. As a raw spring herb, you can mix it into salads or use it as a decoration or topping or as a side dish. You can also cook monk's beard briefly, as we show in a recipe. If cooked for too long, however, the stems taste bitter and grassy.
Monk's beard, which is often used in Italy in particular, looks similar to chives and its long, fleshy stems have a slightly earthy, sometimes sour taste, which has a salty note depending on where it is grown or harvested. Agretti herb, or salt herb or Roscano, is considered a delicacy in Italy and an ideal component of an alkaline diet.
Before preparing monk's beard, you should cut the plant about 2 cm above the reddish roots, wash it thoroughly under running water and let it drain. The monk's beard can then be used raw in mixed salads or cooked for various pasta creations or other recipes from Tuscan cuisine.
The preparation is similar to that of spinach . To improve the visual presentation of the dish, you can preserve the green color by briefly blanching it during preparation. This means: Boil briefly in water and then rinse with ice-cold water.
Monk's beard recipe for raw vegetables or salad:
Monk's beard is a good raw vegetable in a wild plant salad, e.g. together with dandelions. In a spring salad, monk's beard provides a refreshing crunch. A salad for four large salad plates can consist of e.g. 500 g of thin green asparagus, 1 bunch of monk's beard, 2 oranges cut into pieces, the seeds of a pomegranate and a handful of roughly chopped walnuts. The green asparagus is blanched for 4 minutes and the Barba di frate for 1 minute - in the same water. The vinaigrette can be made in many different ways - with or without oil. In the link you will find the oil-free vinaigrette with walnuts and orange juice .
Recipe for spaghetti with monk's beard or barba di frate:
For this monk's beard recipe, you cook the dish like normal spaghetti, if possible with a highly aromatic sauce with chili, capers, anchovies and garlic. The previously briefly blanched monk's beard is only added for the last one or two minutes, because the barba di frate should have a bite. Alternatively, for a more intense flavor, you can fry the monk's beard separately with a little oil and garlic for about three minutes and only add it to the spaghetti after cooking. If the stems are not individual like chives, but branched, you can separate them beforehand if you want them to be visually integrated better.
| Not only vegans or vegetarians should read this: Vegans often eat unhealthily. Avoidable nutritional mistakes. |
Shopping - where can you buy monk's beard?
During the season, which lasts from the end of February to May, you can find fresh monk's beard or agretti at certain weekly markets, in delicatessens, specialty shops and organic shops, as well as in well-stocked grocery stores. You can also order this spring vegetable online. According to the FDDB, a bunch usually weighs 250 g.
During the monk's beard season, there are a few larger branches of major retailers such as Coop , Migros , Aldi , Lidl , Rewe , Edeka , Hofer etc. that sell monk's beard. Buy in organic markets, at the weekly market, or directly from farmers. We found no evidence of this in smaller supermarkets in Switzerland such as Denner , Volg , Spar , Lidl and Aldi .
Found in the wild:
Monk's beard is an elongated plant that forms a long, leafless stem. This salt-loving coastal plant is found in the wild on dune meadows in southern Europe and the Balkans. 1
Preserving monk's beard - Storage:
Monk's beard tastes best when it's fresh. If you have to wait, you can wrap it in a damp cloth and store it in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator for 2-3 days. This will not cause any great loss of quality. Can you freeze monk's beard? We advise against freezing lettuce or monk's beard. Freezing causes the plants to wilt and they become mushy afterwards. Freezing vegetables with a high water content such as radishes, turnips, garlic and even tomatoes is just as problematic.
Ingredients - nutritional value - calories:
The monk's beard nutrients are as follows: The plant has a calorific value of 71 kJ/100g and is low in calories (17 kcal/100g). It contains 1.8 g of protein, 2.2 g of carbohydrates and 0.2 g of fat. Like the crow's foot plantain, the plant is probably rich in potassium , calcium and vitamins C , B 1 , B 2 , B 3 and B 6 and E . Is monk's beard healthy? This spring herb can certainly be described as healthy, but there is no good reason to consider agretti a superfood.
Dangers - intolerances - side effects:
As with other herbs, there are many questions on the Internet about the effects of monk's beard or saltwort or whether saltwort is edible. Barba di frate has a mild diuretic effect. This effect can also be found in the " Handbook of Pharmaceutical Botany " from 1804. Salsola soda is simply called saltwort or soda saltwort. When dried, the herb is reddish and has a salty, unpleasant taste, no smell at all and is known in pharmacies under the name Herba vitri (which also indicates that it is healthy). However, its use is very limited and it only promotes the discharge of urine.
Occurrence:
Where does monk's beard grow? Monk's beard is found primarily in central to eastern Mediterranean coastal areas. According to Wikipedia, its native region is Eurasia and North Africa. 9 However, in addition to European coastal regions, the plant also thrives in Canada, the USA (invasive) and in temperate latitudes in western Asia on salt marshes. 2 ,8,10 Northern Italy is known for the commercial cultivation of agretti.
Growing monk's beard - in the garden or as a potted plant:
Can you grow monk's beard yourself? To grow your own monk's beard (Barba di frate) you only need a small pot or flower box. The monk's beard seeds that can be ordered online take around 60 days to grow into monk's beard plants that are ready for harvest. Each stem, which is sometimes slightly branched, has its own root.
However, the seeds are known for poor germination (only about one-third to 40%), similar to rosemary. Although the plant is often grown in salty soils in the Mediterranean, it will grow without salt. Monksbeard is harvested in small bunches or cut regularly to encourage new growth. If the soil is not too dry, it can have a wide range of pH levels, from acidic to alkaline.
If the soil is good, the cut plant will grow back after the first harvest. The monk's beard prefers moist, nutrient-rich soil and not too intense sunlight. 3
The pre-cultivation (preferably warm) is best started as open-air sowing from the beginning of April. Direct sowing follows from mid-May to June and in September. In a greenhouse, October is suitable for autumn-winter cultivation. 2
Risk of confusion:
Wikipedia (March 2019) lists monk's beard under crow's foot plantain ( Plantago coronopus ) with alternative names such as staghorn plantain, slit-leaf plantain, slit-leaf plantain, nasturtium beard, monk's beard or goat's beard. 2 This is simply wrong. In English, monk's beard can be found on Wikipedia under Salsola soda , the botanical name. It is also popularly known as opposite-leaved saltwort, oppositeleaf Russian thistle or barilla plant. If you switch to Italian, Salsola soda is correctly known as Barba di frate, Barba del Negus, Riscolo, Agretti or Agretto.
Related plants include the hill saltwort (botanical name Kali collinum , old Salsola collina ), the Ruthenian saltwort ( Kali tragus ), a steppe plant also called Ukraine saltwort, Hungarian saltwort, steppe saltwort or Kali saltwort 4 , as well as the actual potassium saltwort ( Kali turgidum , formerly Salsola kali ), also called potassium herb or beach saltwort.
The hill saltwort is called tumbleweed or slender Russian thistle and is very easily confused with the Ruthenian saltwort.
Prickly Russian thistle ( Kali tragus (L.) Scop., ex Salsola tragus ), English prickly Russian thistle, tumbleweed, windwitch, common saltwort, is commonly known as prickly Russian thistle. 5 It is a steppe plant native to Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It can now be found in South Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North and South America. In China, Ruthenian saltwort grows on dunes and in sandy and rocky locations. Only in freshly germinated form can it be eaten in small quantities as a salad or stir-fry, but it is also used as food for numerous wild animals.
Prickly saltwort ( Kali turgidum , formerly Salsola kali ), English prickly saltwort or Russian thistle, grows naturally in Europe on the coasts of the Baltic, North Sea and Atlantic. It is also called common saltwort. The plant is poisonous, but young leaves are edible. 11 Prickly saltwort was used for the best (oriental) soda production, but not as a substitute for monk's beard.
Kali komarovii (Iljin) Akhani & Roalson, ex Salsola komarovii , is a vegetable plant in China, Korea, Japan (known as okahijiki) and eastern Russia. 6
General information:
Monk's beard once belonged to the genus Salsola in the family Amaranthaceae Juss. It is not a goosefoot plant (Chenopodiaceae), as can be read elsewhere. About two dozen species were distinguished in this genus ( Salsola s. str.). However, Salsola kali (= Kali turgida ) was established as the new type for the genus Salsola (instead of Salsola soda ) and Soda was declared a new genus, which reduced the species and distribution area. See also Wikipedia under salt herbs and above under risk of confusion.
Linnaeus named the plant Salsola soda because it was used to make soda. The ash obtained from the plant contains up to 30% sodium carbonate. This alkaline compound was used to produce "soda-lime glass", soap and various other products.
Alternative names:
In addition to Barba di frate, Barba dei frati, Agretti, Agretto, goat's beard, Salsola soda or Liscari sativa, there are other names and expressions in other languages, which usually have other meanings and can therefore refer to several plants. Examples include soda herb, soda salt herb, salt herb or ballerina 7 . This can cause problems when buying seeds for planting. Common spelling mistakes are monk's beard, Möchsbart, Agreti, Agetti, Aggretti, Akretti, Agretto, Barba die frate, Barba di fratte, Barbe di frate, Barbe di fratte, Barba di frati, Barba frati, Barba frate, Frate di barba or Barba del frate.
Some people also search for monk's beard in connection with the staghorn plantain ()
Keywords for use:
Can you eat monk's beard raw? Monk's beard can be eaten raw (it is then vegan raw food) - but it can also be cooked, baked, fried, is suitable for sauces, soups, doughs, mixtures, desserts, party recipes, salad recipes, German cuisine, small dishes, herb mixtures, pasta recipes and seems to have become very fashionable recently, at least in Europe. It is also used in vegetarian dishes and has actually become popular with vegetarians and omnivores.
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