Beauty you can eat!

Meet Dame’s Rocket, a biennial flowering plant from the mustard family and a cousin of many plants we eat, like Arugula. Also known as Mother of the Evening due to its evening fragrance, this plant offers many benefits.

Did you know?

This herb is native to the Mediterranean and Central Asia, extending now to Europe and North America.

Plant of deceit

It is known as a flower of deception as there it has no fragrance during the day. Come nightfall, however, the flower has a lovely perfume. It grows wild in woods with tall slumps of lavender blooms in the spring and summer months. 

Its slender threadlike tooth-shaped leaves with cluster flowers vary in colour depending on the soil and sun exposure. It requires moist, well-drained, slightly alkaline soil in full sun or partial shade. Dame’s Rocket is a food source for caterpillars, moths and hummingbirds.

Aesthetic and medicinal marvel

Each flower produces a long thin seed pod attached to the flower stalk and held outward in an ascending position often used in flower pots to complement a bouquet. It is used medicinally to induce sweating, treat coughs and used as an antidote for insect stings and snake bites-the leaves are rich in Vitamin C. 

Culinary creation

Young Dame’s Rocket is one of the most exotic flavoured greens I have ever eaten. It resembles Arugula with a tinge of spice and sweetness. Grab them as buds, toss them in a pan with olive oil for a few seconds and add vinegar and nuts, making a perfect summer salad.

They can be candied and used for cakes and as dessert garnish. Jelly made out of this blossom is very popular in Alaska. 

You can blend it with butter like any other herb as it tastes like garlic, giving your vegetables a distinct flavour. 

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine