Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

AKA Wet-the Bed, Piss-a-Bed

Where: Everywhere, especially disturbed soil and waste ground. Throughout the UK.     

What: Leaves, flowers, roots.

When: Anytime, though autumn better for roots, spring for the flowers.

The Dandelion is unmistakeable – the bane of gardeners and colonisers of every corner of every back garden – it grows just about anywhere, and at any time of year (though obviously favouring spring and summer). What we know as a Dandelion is actually over 200 sub-species, but it is not really important that we know the difference between them – by all means go ahead and research if you want to – as they are all edible and all taste the same.

There are 3 crops associated with the Dandelion – the leaves, the flowers, and the large tap root.

The flower, when it appears, is bright golden or orangey yellow and made up of multiple individual petals in a bunch measuring up to 5cm wide and occurring on a single stem. It is possible to find flowers all year round, but they are extremely common in the spring and summer, when they should be picked on a sunny day around midday – they close up at night, even after they have been picked, so use them quickly. That said, the unopened young buds are edible, boiled briefly or pickled in brine. Traditionally, the Dandelion flowers to be used for wine are picked on St George’s Day (23 April), although in reality any time will do. Their flavour is slightly floral and sweet, but also bitter – actually rather pleasant.

The hollow stem upon which the flower sits is a light brownish-green (darker near the top), up to 0.7cm wide and usually up to 20cm tall (though impressively up to 50cm), and exudes a bitter white milky fluid when cut, as do the leaves.

The leaves grow low to the ground in a rosette measuring up to 50cm across, from the centre of which the stem grows. Individually they measure between 10 and 20cm in length (rarely longer) and up tp 5cm in width, and are characterised by their spear shape and sharp-pointed backward facing teeth, hairless surface,  and a well defined central ridge running along the length. The leaves are a fresh, but strong, bitter flavour – not unpleasantly so, but can be overpowering if used on their own – better to add them to other leaves in a salad or blanch them. The older leaves will need to be blanched, steamed or boiled (see below), as they can be tough.

Directly below the stem is the tap root. Though small in smaller plants, it reaches almost carrot-size in the larger well established examples. They are tough to dig out and have a nasty habit of breaking if you pull too hard, but are well worth it. Pale grey/brown in colour, they are long and thin – measuring up to 20cm (perhaps 15cm when ‘topped and tailed’) long and 5cm wide. They have a bitter taste, but also sweet, not unlike the parsnip – scrubbed and prepared, they can also be treated like a parsnip too – roasted or mashed. These are best collected during the end of autumn or into winter, as the tap root is where the nutrients are stored to see the plant through the lean winter period..

The seed of the Dandelion is the well known and perfectly spherical ‘clock’ - white in colour and comprising thousands of dark brown individual seed with fluffy heads.

There is a large amount of “Old Wifery” connected with the Dandelion and its ‘miraculous’ ability to heal. The most commonly cited remedy is that it can cure warts, a ‘cure’ mentioned in several supposedly ‘serious’ books on the subject. Yeah, it cures warts in the same way it can make you fly – it can’t – and anyone who says differently is talking complete rubbish. However, note well, Dandelion is a powerful diuretic – it did not earn its nicknames “Wet-the-Bed” or the more vulgar, “Piss-the-Bed” for nothing. This has a basis in science, as the plant contains large amounts of potassium, but as long as you don’t eat Dandelion and nothing else, you’ll be fine. However, it does contain significant amounts of Vitamins C, A and K, protein, calcium and lots of Iron, so is not only plentiful, but is really good for you… just don’t eat too much!

There are a many different ways in which Dandelion can be used as a food, it really is quite versatile. Obviously the younger leaves are perfect served raw in salad – I personally wouldn’t use them on their own as they are a tad bitter, but add them according to taste instead – as you do with Rocket. The older leaves need wilting in the same way spinach does – rinse, and use the water left on the leaves in the pan. Done this way they are perfect served Greek style (Horta) - with a little olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper. Lots of people make fritters from the flowers – dipped in batter and shallow fried – but I have to say I’m not a huge fan. A far better use for the flowers is Dandelion wine – a subject I will be covering, in some detail, later in the spring.

The root has traditionally been used to make a caffeine-free coffee substitute, and I have to say the taste is quite similar – bitter and earthy (although, as a coffee addict, I cannot say I prefer it!). Another interesting way of serving the tap root is in the style of parsnip. Choose the largest Dandelions and excavate the root, remove the leaves and rinse the soil off. Scrub the skin and trim, and then place in a roasting tin with a little oil and seasoning and cook until soft and tender. Honestly, they work – they retain some of their bitterness, and are actually quite edible

I’ll post the Dandelion Coffee recipe at a later date, and the Dandelion wine recipe will go up a little before St George’s Day, when the flowers are traditionally picked.

Above is a recipe for Dandelion leaves cooked as greens that I’ve called Dandelion Zing because of the lemon/chilli explosion.