Sea Arrowgrass/Wild Corriander/Corriander grass

Triglochin Maritimaima

I was scared of picking this plant for ages, hearing tales of it's cyanide content. 

One of it's names- Corriander grass tells you all you need to know about the flavour of the stuff and I was surprised how potent it smells! I know corrianders not a commonly loved herb, many people claiming that it tastes like soap. I love it however and I love thai food so watch this space for a lot of funky thai recipes coming up soon.

It's these fleshy white parts of the stalk that you need to look for- they are the edible parts where as the green tops of the grass contain hydrocyanic acid which is practically cyanide which interferes with oxygen uptake. Basically, I won't go into detail but it's just not worth it. I've had people tell me that it's fine to eat the green tops and I simply don't listen to them. There's enough flavour in just a few of these fleshy white parts to flavour whatever you need to with so there's really no point in risking it.

The seeds are also edible- fresh, dry or roasted and I can see these making an excellent corriander substitute. They are little flavour pearls that I feel would make an excellent garnish for thai dishes as well as perhaps fish encrusted with them and baked. 

So there you have it, an abundant marshland plant that packs a whole load of flavour. 

What was I ever afraid of?