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Fact sheet: Rock Samphire (Crithmum maritimum)
Last updated: Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Rock Samphire is quite common round the coasts of Southern Europe and South and South-West England, Wales and Southern Ireland, but it is less common in the North and rare in Scotland. It does not occur in North America. In Australia it is very rare to find Rock Samphire in a (Herb) nursery. And yes, we do stock it in our nursery. (I have permanently closed the nursery after 25 years)
Rock Samphire is a perennial, frost hardy and easy to grow. It grows in its native environment from rocks and shingle and on cliffs. Pickled samphire was once so popular and saleable that men risked their necks to collect it from the cliffs. It grew abundantly on the Isle of Wight where, according to Coles, 'there is so great plenty that it is gathered, (yet not without danger) for some have ventured so far upon the craggy precipices that they have fallen down and broken their necks, so that '-making a rather sick joke-'it might be said they paid'. Coles described how the plant was pickled and sent to London and other places, 'of all the sawces (which are very many) there is none so pleasant, none so familiar and agreeable to Man's body as samphire, both for digestion of meates; breaking of the stone, and voiding of Gravell in the Reines and Bladder'.
Gerard wrote in 1597: The leaves kept in pickle and eaten in sallads with oile and vinegar is a pleasant sauce for meat, wholesome for the stoppings of the liver, milt and kidnies. Samphire leaves look like succulents and are at their best and freshest in spring, until early summer, before the plant flowers.
Culpepper wrote fifty years later, that it had in his days gone out of fashion, for it is well known almost to everybody that ill digestions and obstructions are the cause of most of the diseases which the frail nature of man is subject to; both of which might be remedied by a more frequent use of this herb.
Shakespeare refers to samphire growing on the white cliffs of Dower.
Recipes:
Pickled Samphire 1
Samphire, Salt, Vinegar
Gather the young and green samphire beginning of March (in Australia) or end of July (Europe) before it flowers. Break into 2 in. lengths, lay on a dish and sprinkle with dry salt. Leave for 24 hours. Drain, then cook gently until tender in enough vinegar to just cover it, but don't allow it to get soft. plain vinegar is best for this as the samphire has its own spicy flavour. Seal down securely in hot jars.
Pickled Samphire 2
The varnish smell and taste of the raw plant entirely disappears when rock samphire is pickled and it makes a delicious crisp green relish to eat with all cold meats and to add to salads.
1 colander picked-over rock samphire leaves
1/4 litter / 33/4 cups /11/2 pints white vinegar 11/2 litter / 11/4 cup / 1/2 pint water1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoon pickling spice
1 teaspoon ground mace
6 peppercornsPick off the hard, main stems from the samphire and soak the leaflets in salted water for 1hour. Wash in fresh water and drain through a colander. Put the samphire in a large saucepan with just enough cold water to cover, bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes, drain well. Boil the vinegar, water, salt and spices together for 5 minutes then pour into a bowl and allow to cool. Spoon the samphire into jars to within 1/2 in. / 1 cm of the top, strain the spiced vinegar into a jug and fill up the jars so that the samphire is well covered. Screw on plastic lined lids or, if using metal lids, line with vinegar proof paper or two thicknesses of greaseproof paper. Store for 4 months before using, to allow the pickle to mellow.
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