Another spinach!
By Clive Larkman
Spinach has to be one of those vegetables that many people have a love/hate relationship with in the western world. Kids hate it because it is green and often served as a pile of mush. When cooked fresh it isn’t too bad, but when cooked from canned or frozen it is really not a pleasant side dish. On the other hand, spinach was a source of magical strength for the very popular cartoon character and hero ‘Popeye the sailor man’. After consuming a can of spinach, Popeye turned from a nerdy sailor to a pipe smoking legend with huge biceps. In reality it is a great leafy green veggie when cooked the right way. It tastes delicious and is high in iron which supports muscle health and function as well as overall health.
The bigger enigma for this interesting plant is the range of plants that have the common name ‘spinach’. In most English-speaking countries spinach comes in a few forms that are similar in appearance and flavour. These are all forms of Beta vulgaris and include Perpetual, Baby, English Spinach etc. Then there are the climbing spinaches, Basella alba, which are unusual, fleshy-leaved plants.
Edible plants are usually grouped by their common names rather than their Latin because there is a wide range of very different species that we call “spinach”. This is the case with Mountain or French Spinach which, prior to the development of the plants mentioned above, was the main leafy vegetable in southern Europe. The Latin name is Atriplex hortensis which puts it in the same genus as the Australian Saltbush plants. Many species of Atriplex have adapted to very dry, high salt conditions and are used as a food source for animals who live in those environments.
The most widely grown one is the Mountain Spinach which has been traced back close to 15,000 years. The species was in the original Species Plantarum and was formally described by the great Linnaeus. It had the common name of Garden Orache and French Spinach which are still used in southern Europe. It is native to Eurasia and has become naturalised in North America and parts of Australia.
The plant is a quick-growing shrub to around 75cm high and 50cm wide. It grows well from seed sown in spring and early summer, and germinates quickly. The plant produces attractive cream flowers in mid to late summer. The bushes should be cut back at this stage to prevent self-seeding and to keep the bush nice and compact. It is a half-hardy annual and if harvested regularly it may hold through warmer winters.
There is a very attractive variety of Atriplex hortensis var. rubra or Red Mountain Spinach. It has stunning red-purple foliage and matching red-purple flowers. This is a true ‘Edimental’ giving great colour to the cottage garden and the veggie patch whilst also being an excellent provider of leafy food for the kitchen. The flowers also hold for over a week in a vase.
Atriplex hortensis has a salty, spinach-like taste and is used cooked or raw in salads. The green and red leaves were once used to colour pasta in Italy. It was commonly grown in Mediterranean regions over the last 10,000 years until spinach became the more favoured leaf vegetable. It is commonly grown in warmer climates in preference to regular spinach because it is more tolerant of heat, and slower to go to flower and seed.
The plant is quite nutritious, being high in vitamin C, calcium and iron. The red form also has lots of anthocyanins, and more than the average plant-based protein. Use the fresh young leaves raw in salads, steamed or in stir-fries but don’t overcook it. If added to fresh pasta while it is cooking it will add great colour, and when ‘al-dente’ toss some fresh leaves with garlic and butter. You will find that Atriplex will be saltier than regular spinach. Why don’t you give this great plant a go!