Monday, September 22, 2014

Wasong 瓦松 Orostachys Japonica אָראָסטאַכע Rock Pine

[This post has been updated]
Well, will you take a gander at this thing?  The farmers at the green market said either to add it to salads or make juice, and that it will cure all ills.  It seems to be sort of a succulent similar to purslane, so maybe I will make a fatoush-type salad.  I haven't tasted any yet, because I want to save it for Rosheshone.  I will update this post (no solemn vow implied) when I have more information.

ETA:
We tried this on Roshshone.  It is juicy and crunchy with a bright tart flavor that is closest to sorrel (shtshav, schav).  It was a very nice in salad and would probably be good in any of these shtshav recipes.  In fact it would probably be much easier than making them with actual shtshav, since you don't have to remove the stems, and it stays fresh much longer than shtshav, which is notoriously frangible.

Deconstructed Shtshav

Hemp Shtshav

Classic Shtshav

Bonus: The post with the classic shtshav recipe also provides sixteen Yiddish synonyms for shtshav. 

Among the remarkable things about this plant are the gorgeous Fibonacci spirals of the spines and leaves.  See Vihart's beautiful video series on spirals and being a plant.

Oh, I can't help it.  These are so good, I have to embed them.  Watch  the whole thing.  I'll wait.



Is that not the bee's knees?

Now be less of a theorist and more of a plant:



Yikes, that ends on a bit of a cliffhanger.  Here you go:



All my best wishes for a sweet and healthy year.  Have a look at:

Date Honey Cake
Pomegranate Honey Cake
Chocolate Honey Cake
Classic Honey Cake

and don't miss our Rosheshone-related videos.

This year we made tsimes!



See also Rice with Apples and Honey



Roasted Fish and Honey Cake



I just wanted to say "notoriously frangible" again.

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2 Comments:

Anonymous VenMum said...

What a trip! Somehow the frenzy was part of it. The mathematics and the wonder of creation are very, very beautiful.

11:19 PM  
Blogger the chocolate doctor מרת שאקאלאד said...

Thrice venerable mother,
Indeed they are.

9:38 PM  

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