There are many wondrous weeds (known as ‘ot’ in Turkish) to buy in the markets at the moment and I am guessing that many of you will not have a clue what they are. I certainly didn’t.
OK, I recognised the bunches of nettles with their prickly leaves but not even the asparagus resembles what I grew up with, back home.
I am hoping that I can enlighten you on a few of these wondrous plants now that my adorable village gals (pictured further down) have taken me under their wing, as I was in a bit of a quandary myself. However, after some extensive research and a few field trips with them, I feel I am finally getting somewhere.
My main sources have been, as usual, the steadfast village neighbours with their recipes that are only in their heads and have been passed on from generation to generation, with very little adaptation along the way.
So here are the ‘ot’ that I discovered in the markets and further down are a few recipes to cover most occasions. Of course, there are many ways to cook these, but these are the two most common ways to cook these delicious and very nutritious weeds.
At the very end of the post, I have listed the supposed benefits of each weed, where I have been able to extract info from my hill top research team and where not, the internet has assisted.
My wonderful ladies of the hill, who sell me their steaming milk, bring me their delicious golden yolked eggs and call us for glasses of cay when their cows are back in their stall, whip up ‘ot’ (weed) dishes regularly and we have found them to be extremely delicious.
By consensus, there seems to be mainly two ways to cook these ‘ot’ as a main meal, no matter how different they look, grow or taste. When one asks at the market how to eat them, nearly always I am hit with the same answer, olive oil and eggs or bulgur. Err, yes, but how?
So now, after annoying my sweet village gals yet again, the method has been revealed with a few variations. May I say, that these recipes need not be restricted to ‘ot’ but can also be followed for spinach, chard, leeks and virtually any greens you wish to cook.
- ½ kg greens / weed
- 1 large finely chopped onion
- ½ cup coarse bulgur
- 1 dsp tomato paste
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 tsp butter
- 1 tsp tomato paste or hot pepper paste
- 1 cup yogurt
- 1 clove crushed garlic
- ¼ tsp salt
- Fry the onion till golden in oil
- Add the tomato paste and lighly fry
- Add the chopped greens and bulgur
- Add salt to taste (some weeds vary a lot regarding how much salt is needed)
- Pour in 1 cup water
- Bring to boil then turn to low and simmer minimum 10 to 15 minutes and longer for thicker vegetables / weeds.
- To make butter sauce, in a small pan place 2 tsp butter with 1 tsp tomato paste or hot pepper paste and let it bubble for 2 mins, stirring continuously
- Serve with yogurt mixed with a ¼ tsp salt and a crushed garlic clove
- Pour butter sauce over yogurt
- 1 bunch greens / weed / ot (probably around 250g)
- 1 finely chopped onion
- 3 eggs or more
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Red pepper flakes / pul biber
- Wash the greens well and chop finely
- Fry the onion in olive oil until transparent
- Add the greens, salt and red pepper and cook gently for 10 to 15 minutes
- Now you have a choice how to deal with the eggs
- a) beat the eggs then add them to the dish, stirring continually until cooked through to your taste or
- b) crack the eggs on top, continue cooking gently until cooked through
When cooking ‘gozleme’ – the flat Turkish filled breads, ‘ot’ are regularly used, mixing them with a little white cheese. The village gozleme are absolutely way and beyond the best we have ever tasted. Some of these ‘ot’ are unbeatable for flavour and the village ladies will usually make a mix up, of 2 or 3 different kinds and a bit of parsley thrown in as well for good measure.
WEEDS – WHAT ARE THEY GOOD FOR? ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING!
My Ladies of the Hill are wonderfully helpful but sometimes they simply do not know the answers. The list below of the Benefits of Weeds is from a variety of sources and I cannot be sure how reliable it is.
Isırgan / Nettle leaf is most commonly used to treat pain, osteoarthritis, allergies and hay fever as well as being a diuretic. Also, cooled nettle tea used to rinse your hair can make it really shiny.
Çiriş / Fake Leek and also the Körmen / Fake Garlic plant are very similar and have the same health benefits described below.
High in Vitamin C, they strengthen the immune system and help during menstruation. Can be used to cure urinary tract infections. Help with skin conditions such as acne, reduce hair loss. Help treat hemorrhoids. Increases milk during breastfeeding.
Kuşkonmaz / Wild Asparagus
This is another Wonder Weed with its high antioxident levels, high in folate which is important for pregnant mothers. It reduces the risk of colon cancer. High in fibre and very low in calories. Aids digestion and improves nutrient absorption in the intestine. Prevents kidney stones. Improves skin condition and helps prevent sun damage. Prevents cognitive decline. Slows the ageing process. Lowers risk of diabetes. Regulates blood sugar. It is extremely high in Vitamin K and lowers the risk of heart disease.
Çitlenbik or Çitlembik the plant & Menengiç or Melengiç the berries
This apparently helps people gain weight, stops foot odour, helps wounds heal quicker, lets kidneys remove grit before becoming stones, can stop stomach pain and reduce coughing.
Gelincik / Poppy leaves and flowers
Mainly this plant can be used as a mild sedative, as well as nerves in the stomach and indigestion, it helps treat anxiety. (This sort of makes sense considering opium, a relaxant, is harvested from opium poppies which have some similar properties.) It helps cure insomnia. It helps with coughs, colds, throat and chest pain.
Karabaş / Fake Lavender – drunk as a tea, it is used to treat diabetes the market stall holder told me.
Radika / Dandelion
Helps remove kidney stones and cleanses the kidneys, liver and blood. Can help cure chronic hepatitis. It is good for eczema and skin irritations. It can regulate stomach fluids and act as a laxative.
Sarı Ot / Yellow Weed is the direct translation. I have been unable to discover the name in English – Reduces fever and helps with pain as well as used to treat rheumatism.
Yemlik – I have sadly failed to find the English name for this weed as well. A few sites suggested that the Latin name was Scorzonera but then when I looked that up, it turned out to be marijuana. Clearly one can see that there is no similarity between the two of these. If anyone can enlighten me on this, I would be very grateful.
It is high in Vitamins A, E, C, B2 and B6 as well as iron and calcium. It helps with anaemia and can strengthen the metabolism and give you an appetite. It is best used in salads for digestion. It helps with eyesight and night blindness. It is a good supplement for skin, hair and nails. It helps wounds heal and can help with migraine headaches.
Ebegurmeci / Common Mallow
High in iron, zinc and many vitamins, it is a common weed found across the globe.
It makes an excellent mouthwash and is a plaque inhibitor. Good for pharyngitis and tonsillitis. Can help with boils and wounds. Relieves swollen feet. Helps with nose bleeds. Stops constipation. Prevents nausea and vomiting. Reduces fever.
Şevketi bostan /Blessed Thistle / Holy Thistle / St Benedict’s Thistle / Cnicus Benedictus in Latin
This weed looks similar to the milk thistle however the flower is yellow and not purple and it is grows to around 30 cm high compared to its well known cousin that can grow to 2 metres.
Blessed Thistle stimulates the production of bile, aids in fat digestion, lowers cholesterol, prevents gall stones and can detox the liver. In large quantities it can cause vomiting however. It can be used to treat nausea, flatulence and bloating. It can create an appetite and is used against anorexia. It is an oxygenator and can help the heart, brain and memory functions and has anti-cancer agents. It aids in menstrual pain and menstruation headaches. It aids breastfeeding and is a very common helper for this with large success.
WEEDING IN THE FUTURE
I hope ‘weeding’ will take on a completely different meaning for you now, and you can enjoy it as much as I do. I liken it to rummaging in a good flea market. You never know what you will find, but often there are treasures just waiting to be discovered.
Happy Pickings!
This is a masterful post, Claudia–thanks for the guide! I have thought a lot about all the wild foods eaten in Turkey. It is such a good way to add nutrients and save money.
It’s my pleasure Susan. I am so pleased you enjoyed it. I really enjoyed writing it and learning about these edible treasures. I hope to discover more as the seasons move on.
I really enjoyed reading this piece being a great “weed-forager.” Edinburgh is almost overrun with your “fake garlic” every spring. Locally people call them “wild garlic” or ransoms but mostly they’re not we you inspect them closely! I believe the Latin name name is Allium triquetrum and that they were introduced to the UK by returning missionaries. They taste a lot like ransoms except that they seem to taste stronger of garlic after you eat them than when you first put them in your mouth and can be used interchangeably. I’m always happy for more inspiration and I know what I’m cooking on Saturday.
I don’t know what went wrong with your google-fu! Scorzonera is definitely a black tap root with a white inner. It used to be a popular vegetable during the 17 and 1800s and then suddenly vanished from the British dinner table. My local health food shop sometimes stocks its all white cousin, salsify. I’ve eaten both and reckon you can use them interchangeably too:
https://www.growveg.co.uk/guides/unusual-roots-how-to-grow-salsify-and-scorzonera/
Now I’m imagining some very disappointed students trying to smoke scorzonera! Thanks for the recipes and the giggle.
C.
I am so pleased that this weed post can apply to other areas and not just the region in Turkey in which I live. Imagine Scotland having similar plants! I am quite astounded and very grateful for your input. I hope the following seasons we will also share some similar weeds even though the climates are very different. I look forward to hearing from you again C! ( I love your name, what do they call you for short? 🙂 )
Wow, Lulu! What an informative post this is! I love it! Your part of the country is obviously full of wonderful ot. I am familiar with a few of these thanks to our very own Mehmet and Hatice in our village of Assos. They call wild asparagus ‘filiz’ and as you say, the recommended way of cooking it is with eggs. Or the other big favourite for ot in general is in a börek. I would say that börek is the all-out winner!!!
Thanks for this lovely post 🙂
Thank you Claudia. That means a lot to me. 🙂
Thanks so much for this fascinating post. Are you familiar with a book by Tijen İnaltong: Bir Ot Masalı (İletişim 2003)? I’m not sure if it’s still in print, but it’s worth trying to track down.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Hazinedar. I will see if I can track the book down. I did see a book that was not bad but it only had hand drawings and I find the photos so much easier for recognising other plants. Many thanks for the recommendation.
re “Yemlik”, according to Tijen İnaltong, this is another name for “tekesakalı” from the tragopogon genus. Tureng translates this as “salsify”
Her book has hand drawings of all the plants listed, but also photos of quite a number of them.
That’s very interesting Hazinedar. I definitely have to try and find this book. May I ask, is it in English or just in Turkish? By any chance do you know the spicy plant similar to roka/rocket called Tere in Turkish? I have only recently discovered it and we enjoy it raw in salads. Have you any idea what that one is in English or Latin? Thank you again.
Hi Lulu. This is Ann Hazinedar.
The book is in Turkish, but has a good index of the Latin names for plants.
I couldn’t find “tere” listed in it, but at the Bomonti organic market in Istanbul I regularly buy two types of what the growers (from the Black Sea and from Thrace) call “tere” . One of the translations for it in Tureng is “garden cress”, the Latin name for which, according to my book of British wild flowers, is Lepidium Sativum. This seems to cover a range of types – indeed, the ones I buy from the market look quite different from each other, one very like roka, but a little paler and more delicate, and the other with much smaller, serrated leaves, but they have a very similar flavour – peppery, mustardy – and like you, I add them to salads. Also good with a creamy beyaz peynir. Ann Hazinedar.
Thank you so much Ann for that info. That’s great. The tere here looks like roka, with slightly larger leaves, same dark green and more of a plainer leaf shape but as you said, has that peppery, mustardy flavour but a bit spicier than roka. It’s so interesting how the plants adapt around the country to different conditions. Thank you again for going to all that trouble. I must begin to collect some books like you.