Wild Food Guide — 'S'

Welcome to the Celtnet guide to wild foods. As this recipe site has grown it has become obvious that to allow people to replicate some of the more ancient recipes on this site (especially from the Ancient, Roman and Medieval periods it is necessary to list modern alternatives but also to produce a guide so that the curious can find the original (often wild) ingredients for themselves. These pages are an attempt at bringing all these potentially useful and often forgotten wild foods together into one place. To use this guide simply click on the first letter of your term above or below. Alternativey why not just browse through the terms. You may well find something that surprises you!

This page covers wild foods beginning with the letter 'S' and includes both common and scientific names.

This is the description page for Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) and includes a description as well as an image, if available and a selection of recipes from this site that relates to the wild foodstuff: Yarrow.

Yarrow, Achillea millefolium, (also known as Common Yarrow, Gordaldo, Nosebleed plant, Old Man's Pepper, Sanguinary, Soldier's Woundwort, Thousand-leaf, Thousand-seal) is an erect herbaceious plant belonging to the Asteraceae (aster/daisy) family. It is native to the Northern Hemisphere and either one or several stems which can range from 20cm to 1m tall. Leaves are evenly distributed along the stem, with the leaves near the middle and bottom of the stem being the largest and are bipinnate or tripinnate, almost feathery, and arranged spirally on the stems. They generally bear 3 to 8 ray flowers that are ovate to round. Disk flowers range from 15 to 40.

The yarrow plant can easily be spotted by its feathery leaves which can range from silver to dark green in colour and the distinctive flower heads which can range from white to pink in hue. It is very bitter in taste, but a small amount of finely-chopped leaves can make an interesting addition to salads. A small amonut of the leaves can also be used as a flavouring for soups and stews. The leaves can also be made into a tea by taking three leaves per cup, infusing these in boiling water leaving to seep for four minutes before straining and serving. Serve with a slice of lemon and a spoonful of honey (if desired). In the Middle ages yarrow was used as a component of the mixture known as gruit which was used to flavour beer (thoug this was diplaced by the adoption of hops).

Yarrow Greens
Black Pudding, Potato and Yarrow Salad
Yarrow Flower Wine
Yarrow Beer
Yarrow Tea