Caucasian spinach

Hablitzia tamnoides

leaf · vegetable

Young shoots and leaves with a mild spinach taste, picked early in spring from a perennial vine that comes back every year.

Origin

Caucasus

Where to find it

It is only found in gardens: in Sweden and Norway, networks of gardeners swap the plants, and a few nurseries sell them.

Season (United States)

March to June

Preparation

Shoots and leaves are eaten raw in salads, or cooked for two to three minutes like spinach; the stems are left aside once they toughen. Its oxalates leach into water: boiling it and throwing the water out takes a good share with it.

Molecules

Beta-carotene (vitamin A) · Lutein and zeaxanthin · Vegetable nitrates · ChlorophyllWhat slows things down Oxalates

Did you know?

Brought from the Caucasus to Scandinavia in the 19th century, it survived in old gardens until gardeners rediscovered it.