Field guide · Summer

Samphire

Salicórnia in Portugal, salicorne in France, Queller in Germany — a plant with a different name in every language because nobody farms it far from where it grows. It comes out of tidal salt marsh, in Portugal mostly the flats around the old working salt pans, and it arrives already salted by the water it stood in. That's the one mistake worth avoiding: no salt in the pan, none in the water. Simplest thing to do with it: thirty seconds in boiling water, then butter and lemon — and if the stems are older, pull them through your teeth and leave the woody cores on the plate.

Noted 2026-07-26