Comments on: Goutweed Soup

By: Jeanette Hansen

Jeanette Hansen — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 14:38:33 +0000

Hmm.. Tastes like a broth with a light shellfish scent/flavor. Honestly I prefer the leaves young and fresh. My hubby certainly won’t touch it in this form, but it tastes like it’d be a great base for a pork or beef stew. Apologies to my vegetarian cohorts! very good, overlooked food. I just tried eating a baby shoot from my garden before souping it up! Last year was nettle-leaf soup. Now I just need to figure out the best dressing to go with dandylion leaves!

By: Heikki

Heikki — Wed, 26 May 2010 07:44:19 +0000

Jude, I think the larger it grows, the more bitter the taste will be. Also – just a guess – the texture might get too fibrous to be enjoyable.

We’ve only picked them when they are quite small, I’d say 10 cm tall at most.

I just heard that about 100 years ago goutweed was still pickled in Finland for the winter. Maybe used that way one could utilize larger plants too. I’ll comment on this thread if I find more information on this.

By: Jude

Jude — Wed, 19 May 2010 17:07:04 +0000

I have a large patch of all-green goutweed that has invaded my periwinkle bed. Having only known the variegated form prior to this, I was stumped to learn what it actually was. In my search to identify this plant, I found this site. Wonderful!

Now, is there a point where this plant is too large to eat, or is it edible at any stage of its growth?

By: Heikki

Heikki — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:03:35 +0000

Glad to hear it turned out tasty! I really liked it too. Maybe we’ll try it with mirin too the next time we make it.

By: Maija Haavisto

Maija Haavisto — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 10:05:19 +0000

Made it today, subbing mirin for white wine and leaving out the bread crumbs and oat cream. Tasty, easy and surely nutritious too (it probably isn’t easy to find the actual nutrition information for goutweed…)

By: magpie

magpie — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:08:49 +0000

I hate goutweed. I crawl around on my hands and knees muttering “stinking bishop” (its other name is bishop’s weed). But now, perhaps I have another use for it. Huh.

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 29 May 2008 19:57:27 +0000

That looks absolutely delicious!!! I wonder if we have any in southern California? I’ll have to look…..I love soup!

By: Anni

Anni — Mon, 26 May 2008 19:49:37 +0000

Hi Maija, welcome to our blog! Thanks for all the tips on how to use wild vegetables – there’s so much to learn.

-Anni.

By: Maija Haavisto

Maija Haavisto — Mon, 26 May 2008 15:30:07 +0000

Glad to see I’m not the only Finn who eats goutweed! You can make Fat-Free Vegan’s Gumbo z’Herbes using wild veggies like goutweed, fireweed, nettle and dandelion greens. Fireweed is also nice cooked and eaten as is.

I think I’ll try this soup, but will probably sub some mirin for the white wine, as I usually do because we very rarely have any wine in the house.

Greetings from Pajamäki (from someone who lived near Kallio for 24 years). I’ll definitely have to include a link to this blog when I next update my vegetarian links.

By: Hillary

Hillary — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:11:19 +0000

Thanks for exposing me to and teaching me about goutweed!