The first time I came across the sorrel was reading a recipe from chef Claude Troisgros. I’m just not sure if it was the salmon with sorrel or something else in the chef’s book. That’s been a long time.
Until one fine day, going to one of the fairs close to home, I saw some little apples and on the sign there was sorrel. Always at the stall selling different vegetables. In parts here, it’s not so common.
One can only imagine the reason for the plant’s popular name. Your taste is… sour. Okay, it doesn’t do that much justice. And more acid than sour purely. At least, that’s what I thought. To complicate things even further, it is a mix of vinegar acid and lemon citrus. One matinho simple but powerful. Surprised.
The fancy name is Rumex sorrel L., in English it is known as sorrel (or common sorrel). There is also another plant with the same popular name, but it is from another genus (Oxalis acetosella L.) and looks more like a shamrock. I confirmed some information via Neide Rigo with the post I found it around or bush salad.
It is just not recommended to ingest large amounts. The flavor is due to oxalic acid and oxalates (potassium acid oxalate). This combination of oxalates is toxic, for a change. Hahahah As the old saying goes: The difference between medicine and poison is the quantity.
So, following Claude’s line, I tried it with fish too and it goes very, very well. The contrast in flavor is a great surprise. Braised is good, but I preferred it fresh. It gets much better. Have you tried it yet?
