Be clever - eat clover (Into the wild: survival cuisine)

Continuing my series on edible, medicinal, and utility plants growing in the wild, I wondered what I can describe in my next post. My knowledge on this subject is quite extensive, but in the vast majority of cases it relates to wild plants in Poland, and most of my readers in this community come from South America. I would like these lessons to have a practical dimension so that after reading the content of the article, readers would go outside the city, look around and find examples of plants that I am talking about. It would be nice if I knew that one of my readers, during a walking or cycling trip, found a wild plant that I mentioned, decided to collect it (with all safety precautions), and cook a dish from it at home. However, for this to happen, I must describe plants growing in many latitudes, which at least I suspect that they grow here.

Be clever - eat clover

Today I chose clover as an example of such a common plant. I am going to talk about the field clover, with the characteristic pink flowers, and about the species called Trifolium Repens with white flowers, both of which are suitable for consumption. The clover comes from Eurasia and North Africa but has been widespread in Australia and the Americas as well, so you can probably find it in your own countries.

Clover is a great edible plant for beginner survivalists. All its varieties are edible, the appearance is very distinctive, so it is difficult to confuse it with any other plant, it does not require thermal or mechanical treatment (except roots that have to be cooked) and you can eat every part of it - from flowers to roots.

Flowers are great for decorating dishes. You can pick a few of them and decorate your dinner, without fear that it will significantly affect the taste. You may consider doing it for health benefits: they contain a lot of minerals and vitamins. They have a slightly sweet taste, thanks to the nectar they contain. Red clover flowers taste better than white clover, so they should be a priority in your search for wild food.

Flowers are also suitable for the production of syrups or desserts - for example, they can be used to flavor homemade jellies.

The leaves are suitable for salads, as an addition to rice or potatoes, or as a substitute for spinach. You can then lightly fry them in butter. They contain a lot of protein (for green plants), so they are a good dietary supplement for vegetarians or people temporarily without access to meat. If you don't cook the leaves, they can be a bit hard to digest, so I recommend cooking them, although if you don't have that option, you can also eat them raw.

The clover seeds, which become visible when the plant fades, can be used like sesame seeds and sprinkled on home-baked bread. They can also be ground and made into flour, but this requires a considerable harvest. When we travel, you can crush them with a stone, mix them with water and bake them over the fire. While at home, we can sow seeds in soil or water-soaked cotton wool and eat plant sprouts that taste like soybean sprouts (although they are finer, not so thick).

The roots can be boiled and eaten cooked. I haven't tried it myself yet, so I can't describe the taste or share any recipes with you. I would love to hear from you in the comments about what clover roots taste like if any of you decide to prepare a meal with them.

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Thank you for reading,
@papi.mati

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