Nasturtium Folk Medicine And Cooking

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Nasturtium in cooking

We are used to nasturtium as an ornamental plant, so it is difficult to imagine it as a food seasoning. It takes a long time to tune in and get used to. Although all flower lovers know that unripe nasturtium seeds can be used to make a dish that tastes like capers (these are the flower buds of a small shrub that have undergone special processing).

Last summer, a frightened neighbor came running to me and said that she had just had a delicious lunch, adding nasturtium buds to the dishes, so if something happens … Nothing happened, the neighbor is alive and well, and next year all the neighbors in the area sowed seeds of different varieties of nasturtium for gastronomic purposes. In the summer, we all not only ate nasturtium, but also made preparations from it in order to feel like gourmets in winter.

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This is how our fans of new food dishes from the garden or from the flower garden are born. But nasturtium has long been valued abroad as a spicy plant. For example, in England, the leaves are used for salads and sandwiches, and all housewives prepare vinegar with a piquant taste from its flowers. And this is not because of national hunger. Nasturtium is a ready-made summer spice.

All parts of nasturtium are characterized by a special spicy smell and taste, vaguely reminiscent of watercress. She pinches a little. From habit, a specific taste may seem unpleasant. In its homeland, nasturtium is an important food plant. There they eat the tops of shoots, leaves, fruits, flowers, seeds. Gourmets say that flowers and leaves picked early in the morning, when they contain the most moisture, are tastier. The flowers can be stored in the refrigerator in a plastic bag for two days. The leaves are not stored, they turn yellow, so they must be eaten as soon as they are plucked.

The famous "capers" are prepared from nasturtium seeds as follows. Young green seeds are sprinkled with salt and left for a day in an enamel bowl. During this time, mix several times so that they are all evenly salted. Then the seeds are put into small jars, poured with 6% vinegar and left for two weeks. Then the vinegar is drained, and the seeds are poured with a fresh marinade with spices, as for cucumbers. Instead of vinegar, I use brushes of red currant berries - by eye, about one third of a glass for two mayonnaise jars.

There is another recipe for "capers": pour 200 g of flower buds (or buds, flowers) with marinade. Its composition: take 1 tbsp for 1 liter of water. spoon of 6% vinegar, 50 g of sugar, 2 teaspoons of salt, pepper and bay leaf. Bring everything to a boil and cool. They are used for dressing saltwort, pickles, soups, marinade from them - for borscht.

You can make a nasturtium salad. For 200 g of potatoes, take 100 g of nasturtium leaves (or 50 g of flowers), 2 eggs, 2 tbsp. tablespoons of sour cream, dill and salt. Boil potatoes, peel, cut into cubes. Chop the greens, salt and mix everything. Put slices of a boiled egg on top and season with sour cream. In general, all parts of nasturtium, except for the roots, can be added to any of our salads.

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We are treated with nasturtium

Recently, medicine has become interested in nasturtium. It turns out that essential oils from nasturtium plants have a good effect on patients with heart failure caused by atherosclerosis. The attacks of angina pectoris decrease.

Nasturtium contains phytoncides, carotene. Due to the presence of sulfur, it has tonic and tonic properties. An infusion of leaves is used as a blood purifier and as an expectorant for bronchitis, as a laxative and for inflammation of the lymph nodes.

In medicine, almost all parts of the plant are used: stems, leaves, flowers and fruits. They contain many mineral salts of iron, proteins, vitamins, especially vitamin C.

In folk medicine, nasturtium - all of its parts - is used as a remedy for stones in the bladder. Fresh leaves are applied to cuts, abscesses, bruises, if there are no plantain leaves at hand. It helps - I tried it myself. To obtain medicinal raw materials, the leaves collected during flowering are dried.

The infusion is prepared as follows: the dried nasturtium is poured with boiling water (20 g per glass of water), insisted for 30 minutes. Drink 3 tbsp. spoons 3-4 times a day. Another version of the infusion: pour 10 g of leaves into 1 liter of boiling water, leave for 30 minutes. Drink half a glass three times a day.

A decoction of leaves and flowers is prepared in a ratio of 1:10. Drink 2-3 tbsp. spoons 3-4 times a day. Another version of the broth: 30 g of green mass of nasturtium is poured into 1 liter of boiling water and placed in a water bath for 15 minutes. Cool, filter, add boiled water to the original volume. Take half a glass three times a day - this is for urolithiasis, with bronchitis - 1 tbsp. spoon three times a day. If a decoction of leaves is rubbed into the scalp, then the hair falls out less and grows more actively.

To strengthen the hair roots, a special lotion is made: 100 g of flowers, leaves or seeds of nasturtium, 100 g of fresh nettle and 100 g of boxwood leaves (if we can get it, otherwise we will do without it), pour half a liter of alcohol, leave for 15 days. The infusion is filtered. Rub it regularly into the scalp with a firm brush. The procedure delays the formation of bald spots.