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 'C' and includes both common and scientific names.

This is the description page for Common Scurvy-grass (Cochlearia officinalis) 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: Common Scurvy-grass.

Common Scurvy-grass Cochlearia officinalis (also known as scurvy grass and scruvygrass) is a member of a genus of about 30 species of annual and perennial herbs in the Brassicaceae (cabbage) family. They are widely distributed in both arctic and temperate regoins of the Northern Hemisphere and most are commonly found found in coastal regions, on cliff-tops and salt marshes where their high tolerance of salt enables them to avoid competition from larger, but less salt-tolerant plants.

In Britain, by far the commonest and most well known species is Cochlearia officinalis (Common Scurvy-grass) which grows abundantly on coastal cliffs, rocks and salt marshes. The plant itself tastes rather bitter, but it has very high levels of vitamin C. As a result it was used as a cure for, and as a preventative against, scurvy. Dried bundles or scurvy-grass and distilled extracts would be taken on long sea voyages to combat scurvy. In addition, it was popular, and commonly used, as scurvy-grass drinks and as an ingredient in sandwiches through to the middle of the 19^th century when the ready availability of citruis fruit made the use of this plant redundant. It is a close relative of horseradish and the young leaves have a slightly peppery taste and as a result these can be substituted for watercress in salads.

Scurvy Grass and Rice
Steamed Scruvy Grass Pan-fried in Butter
Scurvy Grass Salad with Beer Dressing
Scurvy Grass, Sea Lettuce and Limpet Stew
Seaweed Soup
Sea Lettuce Seasoning