Sea kale is a Perennial cabbage, the great forgotten of a family of vegetable celebrities, annuals and biennials. A perpetual vegetable that you sow once and plant for life. The ancestral cabbage experienced several waves of popularity and its scent of buckwheat honey is resurfacing today. The beekeeping bug, without the management of bees!

For once, crambe maritima does not borrow its scientific name from the Latins, but from the Greeks, the first to domesticate it. In ancient times, the Romans preserved them lactofermented, like sauerkraut, in barrels that they took with them on expeditions.

Then in the 17th century, it ventured into Europe. Its production remained marginal even in France, where the Sun King demanded to have this vegetable in his vegetable garden. It emerged shortly after in England, where it dropped anchor in almost all English gardens at the beginning of the 19th century. In most Victorian markets, its young shoots are found blanched.

Passionate about cooking and gardening, Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States, declared, in addition to the independence of the United States of America, that he was fond of it. Fame was instantaneous, glory ephemeral. Today threatened everywhere where humans develop, it was nevertheless naturalized on the East and West Atlantic coasts, the Black and Baltic Seas, from Portugal further south to Russia further north.

A plant of the extreme, capable of settling where no other is capable, it deeply anchors its roots in pebbles that are not always polished, coarse sands poor in organic matter but rich in minerals, above the level of high tides, among empty shells.

It likes light, draining soils and prefers full sun, but does not like heat. Laying a natural mulch prevents heat stroke.

The powdery blue with silvery reflections of its foliage refreshes our arrangements with very edible contrasts. We enter its flowerbed like a cloud of ivory butterflies with pink hearts, floating more than half a meter high on the large round and curly leaves like on undulating waves.

Slower than its cousins ​​sown and then harvested in the same year, it can quickly take on the appearance of a sea monster, flooding a good meter in diameter, sometimes overflowing into its neighbors. It is better to provide more space, even if it means surrounding it with early spring bulbs.

Typical of the English garden, the flowers attract pollinators early in the summer and, unless you pick them, they intoxicate with their fragrance for a good three weeks. From then on, we can cut the flower stalks, or wait to harvest the fruits before doing so. Then, the leaf growth will resume.

Being little affected by insects, holes are very rare compared to the average of modern cultivated cabbages, which is almost a miracle. We still gain from growing it in the company of aromatic plants, repellent for many pests. In a flower bed, it does not fear de-icing salts while in the kitchen, brine reminds it of its maritime origins.

It suckers without much ambition, offering us to delicately take a few subjects at its feet.

Its roots do not tolerate being disturbed during its growth. To permanently implant it, you have to wait for the right moment, because transplanting, except during dormancy, is often difficult. Its vigorous taproot needs to grow deeply, which makes cultivation above ground difficult.

In all recipes, where cultivated cabbage or its cousins ​​appear, it can be replaced by crambe. All its parts are edible and have a cabbage taste. In the vegetable section, we would find it resembles kale. In fact, in English, we say Sea Kale. But there is little chance of finding it at the grocery store.

The leaves, bluer, fleshier, with a more pronounced taste than those of traditional cabbages, tend to become bitter at the time of flowering but the cold softens them. From early spring to late fall, as needed, the leaves are ready to be picked.

By harvesting them just before the old leaves start to yellow, we have the beautiful and the good. Being able to measure half a meter, they will be used to roll stuffed cigars. A few leaves, with their concentrated taste, are enough to prepare cabbage soup. When in doubt, dip them in frying oil until crispy.

Let several central leaves develop at all times, and the plant will regenerate over the seasons. For the intense ones, a foot can withstand three close cuts per year. Take care of it a little, it should give you back for a few decades.

The spring shoots are blanched to prevent any bitterness by preventing them from seeing the light. Traditionally, the spring shoot is covered, for a month before harvest, using terracotta cloches. Others mound up with mulch. We use what we can find, taking inspiration from the inhabitants of the English coasts who had learned to blanch the petioles in their natural environment, by piling up pebbles collected from the ground. These young petioles eaten like asparagus, delicately recall the artichoke and the hazelnut.

The flower heads can be steamed like rapini, similar to baby broccoli, by picking them before the flowers open. When fully open, they are a honeyed cloud that can be wrapped around raw grills to create a winning “honey roast” combination, which we would naturally recommend washing down with a sweet mead.

The fruits will follow, if any flowers have been left. While still green and tender, they are used like small cabbage-flavored olives, reminiscent of peas.

The roots, sweet and starchy, have been eaten since the dawn of time, long before the development of rutabaga or turnip.

Recreate a seascape by placing a crumbled Breton shortbread (and/or toasted buckwheat) with fleur de sel garnished with tufts of dill and chives on one side of the plate.

Cut strips of sea kale leaves to obtain the curly end on one side. Soften the sae kale leaves, half an hour before, by basting them with a vinaigrette infused with lemon balm. Place a first strip of sae kale, curly end breaking on the beach. Superimpose the next ones in the same direction, shifting them one by one towards the open sea.

For the foam, a béchamel sauce. A few flowers of this same crambe planted on the shore will complete the flowery picture.

Finish by placing some shelled seafood on the beach and capelin breaking on the waves of sea kale. With their cool surfer look… you’ll have the reflex to put them back in the water!

You will find certified organic plants at our nursery, Paysage gourmand, located in Rawdon.
https://paysagegourmand.quebec/en/produit/sea-kale-crambe-maritima/