Eat up your greens

Did you mother tell you to do this, mine certainly did and I wasn't too keen on them. These days nobody has to tell me to eat up my greens, especially at this time of year. The markets are bursting with greenery in all different forms. And you don't have to buy them.  On any drive into the countryside you will see families field-walking, heads down - a bunch of leaves in one hand, the other poised to grasp a mallow leaf, wild asparagus shoots,  green fennel fronds or even uproot a thistle.  These plants have lovely names that don't exactly roll off the tongue but sound great when you've mastered the pronunciation ebegümeci,  tilkişen, arapsacı and şevket-i-bostan.  Just roll those words around your mouth,  they feel almost as good as they taste.

On Sunday,  Bodrum's H3A organised a herb festival at their Gürece headquarters,  with three types of mixed greens dishes and a herby börek on offer, all made by the local village ladies. Business was brisk and diners spilled out into the garden to eat their greens on the grass.  (In Turkish that could also be eating your grass on the green). In total 86 paying visitors turned up before the food ran out and 50 latecomers were disappointed and had to get their 5-a-day somewhere else.  They also missed the scones, cream and jam made by Camille as a UK contribution to a typical Bodrum lunch.

If you want to try your hand at Bodrum greens, have a look some of these past blog posts on herbivorous themes.

A passion for Prickles
A Prickly Eat
Wild Asparagus
Eggs in Samphire Nests