Samphire

Whilst we were exploring Yorke peninsula, I came across the phrase "Samphire discovery trail" and this reminded me to research the edible  salt marsh plant called Samphire that I had read about some time ago.

binomial  name:  Sarcocornia quinqueflora
( there are several others but this is the common one in  SE Australia)

common name:  Beaded Samphire ,  Chicken claws

It is a halophyle, growing in salty and poorly drained areas and is readily found on the flats at Lota, at low tide, here in Brisbane. At Lota, it forms some large mats only about 10-20cm high but about 1-2m or more in diameter. On the Yorke peninsula I found some - probably a different species - growing on a rocky point some distance from tidal flow but still exposed to salty wind/spray.


Samphire has a long history of usage, especially in England - Shakespeare wrote of it in King Lear: 

Half-way down Hangs one that gathers samphire; dreadful trade!
(Act IV, Scene VI)


Tim Low  (Wild Foods of Australia, 1991, Angus and Robertson, pg 27) records that it was eaten in the early convict and settler days at Port Jackson to help prevent scurvy. This plant also seems to have been
eaten by Aborigines:

http://palaeoworks.anu.edu.au/pubs/Hopeetal2006.pdf

I have been unable to find a nutritional analysis but probably there
will be minimal kJoules, some small amounts of protein, some minerals
including Sodium and possibly also iodine.  One pubmed abstract indicated the presence of tannins and polyphenols in a different Samphire to the Australian one. Otherwise the scientific literature is quite sparse.

Samphire - Yorke Peninsula

Samphire - Lota

Taste wise -  we have only tried it uncooked and it tastes, unsurprisingly, salty.  There are recipes available on the Internet on using this herb and some restaurants are using commercially harvested Samphire from Kangaroo Island.  Here's a link to some more information about the culinary usage:

http://www.tomatom.com/2007/05/samphire-but-no-dead-parrots/

Meanwhile, back in the garden , I picked the first bucket of peaches for the year, with more to come.  We will be bottling most of them.