Content
- Which parts of the evening primrose are edible?
- Edible parts of the evening primrose
- Evening primrose root
- Flowers and flower buds
- Evening primrose as a remedy
- Tips
From the flowers of the evening primrose not only oil can be made, they are also a nice, edible decoration for salads and Co.
Which parts of the evening primrose are edible?
The Common Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis) is native to the Americas and has been used for centuries as both food and traditional medicine. In Europe, too, the meaty roots of the plant were consumed. Today, the versatility of the plant has been forgotten, occasionally even being read as poisonous.
Edible parts of the evening primrose
Basically, almost all parts of the evening primrose are usable in the kitchen. From the young leaves you can make a salad or they are prepared as wild spinach, the flowers and flower buds serve as tasty as well as distinctive decoration of salads, desserts, soups and other dishes. The root of the evening primrose, formerly known as "ham root" due to its reddish color, can be prepared as black salsify.
Evening primrose root
Most evening primrose roots are peeled and then cooked in a vigorous broth. The finely sliced roots can then be dressed with salt, pepper, vinegar and oil and eaten as a salad. Alternatively, they can also be prepared as root vegetables in a classic way in a white bechamel sauce. Evening primrose roots are collected in the first winter, so even before the first bloom of the biennial plant.
Flowers and flower buds
The slightly sweet-spicy-tasting flowers of the evening primrose are suitable as an edible decoration for example of colorful salads, as a soup or as a flower butter. Dried, they can also be added to tea blends. The still-harvested flower buds, on the other hand, can be blanched in vinegar and then put into oil - nicely packaged, by the way, a great souvenir.
Evening primrose as a remedy
Even better known as vegetables is the evening primrose as a remedy, because above all the flowers and the seeds contain a lot of gamma linoleic acid, an essential amino acid. For this reason, evening primrose oil is mainly used externally for skin problems - especially atopic dermatitis - while the flowers are used as an infusion or in the form of syrup for cough and other respiratory infections.
Tips
Incidentally, the slightly nutty-tasting seeds can also be roasted in a pan, lightly and without fat, as an ingredient in the morning cereal mix.