The Legend of Calystegia Sepium

https://www.pfaf.org/USER/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Calystegia+sepium 

Hedge Bindweed

Thought of by many as a pain in the ass plant that is almost impossible to remove from their garden or allotment. 

This is what you will see poking out of hedgerows, purple to bright green in colour and varying in thickness, twining around other plants as it grows, hence it's name 'bindweed'.

I cannot find much literature on the internet, books or any social media site about it's culinary uses so I am going completely on what my family have told me about the plant. 

My grandmother has been eating this from a young age and calls it 'wild asparagus' and I think it was a common plant in her village of Montecilfone.

We pick about 10cm of the young shoots as soon as they appear in early to mid spring.

I have never cooked this plant in any other way to this recipe so I cannot tell you if it's the cooking process that eliminates the alkaloids that are apparently present, but I am going to assume so. 

There is also literature on how ergot-like producing micro-organisms that grow endophytically, which in layman's terms means that these plants are susceptible to dangerous fungus that grow within the plant and cause ergotism in humans and other mammals. 

However, my family have been eating the plant for generations, and although I cannot tell you that I know an awful lot about the plant, there has been no long term repercussions. I myself have been eating it since I was a child. 

But anyway, I'm going to tell you how I eat it for entertainment purposes.

I start by washing the shoots in water and a little bicarb (about 1 teaspoon)

Then I add them to a pot of boiling water with about 4 tablespoons of vinegar, a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of sugar (to counteract the bitterness) and boil for about half an hour

I then drain them, fill the pan up with clean water and a little salt and bring to the boil. Add the Bindweed for a second time, boiling it for 10 - 15 minutes and drain.

I like to eat some in this state as they are delicious in omelettes or mixed in with other wild veggies but as it sometimes happens I get a little happy picking the weeds and end up with a carrier bag full that will take me a few months to get through, I like to preserve it. 

This is the weird bit, my parents swear that they saw it for sale in Lakelands a few years ago marketed as 'wild asparagus' in olive oil, selling for around £7 a jar. 

Once the bindweed is drained significantly, I add it to a jar as it is or with a little dried chilli and chopped garlic and cover it in a good quality olive oil. 

I can't describe how good the flavour is, it has always been my favourite thing about spring time.