Nettle

Laportea spp., Urtica spp. …

leaf

Wild leaves covered in stinging hairs, picked young in spring; once cooked or dried, they no longer sting: soup, pesto, tart. They provide calcium, beta-carotene, lutein and vitamin K1.

Origin

Everywhere in Eurasia

Season (United States)

March to October

Preparation

Its stinging hairs collapse with cooking, drying, or simply under a rolling pin. After that it is handled bare-handed — it is before that gloves are needed.

Molecules

Beta-carotene (vitamin A) · Lutein and zeaxanthin · Vegetable nitrates · Vitamin K1 · Calcium · Chlorophyll

Did you know?

Victor Hugo devotes a chapter of Les Misérables to it: “When the nettle is young, the leaf is an excellent vegetable; when it grows old, it has filaments and fibres like hemp and flax.”