Urbanibalism

Town Thistle Tour & Tasting

Thousands of thistles colonise the fallow zones of Amsterdam west. Yet these ‘plague plants’ are perfectly edible and delectable. Artist Wietske Maas and city botanist Claud Biemans invite you to join them on a thistle plucking expedition followed by a collective cooking and tasting session on 4 juli at The Cook, the Farmer, his Wife and their Neighbour space in Amsterdam West.

The plants are tough and thorny and sometimes hard to reach so please wear sturdy shoes, and bring a sturdy pair of gardening gloves and table knife to dig them up!

When: 14-18h Saturday 4 July, 2009
Where: Lodewijk van Deysselstraat 61, Geuzenveld-Slotermeer
Cost: 2 €

Reservations necessary as place is limited
Contact Dasha van Amsterdam: 0621278298

Town Thistle Tasting is part of the project ‘The Cook the Farmer, his Wife and their Neighbour’ in collaboration with Marjetica Potrc and Wilde Westen, in the framework of Stedelijk in de Stad.

The expedition was an adventure and a half. The hot weather the week before caused many thistles to go to seed. Not only that, but council lawnmowers mowed the high-growing borderline spaces between park and road, and along the canals and bicycle paths we had in mind to go picking. We therefore needed to make a detour and improvise. Claud has a most cunning eye for plants and found an empty construction site rich with a miscellany of plants from lemon balm to chammomile, absinth, mustard and 3 families of thistles (Creeping thistle, Roadside thistle and Welted thistle). It turned out that the Evening primrose was in its prime. With a group of ardent and curious expeditioners we identified the plants and dug, picked and tasted the following:

Evening primrose (Oenothera biennis) flowers roots and all, Codlins & cream (Epilobium hirsutum), Roadside thistle (Cirsium vulgare) roots, Creeping thistle (Cirsium arvense), Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris) flowers and leaves, Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), Yarrow (Achillea Millefolium), Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa), Black mustard (Brassica nigra), Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis).

Evening primrose flowers were dipped in beer batter and fried like zucchini flowers. Thistle roots grated and mashed with potatoes to make thistle patties and stuffed eggs with black mustard, evening primrose flowers, lemon balm and yarrow. We made tea from Codlins & cream (drunk in Russia as Kaporie tea), chammomile, lemon balm.