"follow a path ... find your recipe"

OLACI FOR “THE SECRETS OF ABRUZZO”

(Part I)

                        In our region, when we talk about  unusual plants and unforgettable flavors, our thoughts often bring us to a wild herb, that in the territory of  L’Aquila is well known with the word "Olaci".

                        The botanical name is Chenopodium bonus-henricus, but depending  on the dialects of the region,  in addition to the name Olaci, they are also known with other common names such as  Paruch, Good Henry, Farinelli, Orapi or Mountain Spinaci. The english terms for the plant are Blitum bonus-henricus, also called Good-King-Henry, Poor-Man's Asparagus, Perennial Goosefoot, Lincolnshire Spinach, Markery, English Mercury, or Mercury Goosefoot, is a species of Goosefoot which is native to much of central and southern Europe.

                        The Olaci  are known throughout Europe since the ancient Greeks, little considered in the past (widely cultivated by the English territories around the 18th century), but today they have become a very sought-after herb and suffer often an indiscriminate gathering.

                         The Olaci  are perennial herbaceous plants,  with  spontaneous growth. Sometimes they present   themselves creeping and with ramified  branches in an exemplary way, but the plant can also present an erect and ascending stem, streaky, leafy and able to grow tall from  20 to 70 centimeters.

                 The olaci aren’t so impossible to find on the Abruzzo mountains, especially in the “Aquilano” area, but we have to search them in  the right places and at the right period of the year. We begin to locate them  up on 2000 meters (above sea level)  mountains, but more they are in altitude, more they are good to eat. When searching them, it's not enough to know that olaci are found on high mountain grasslands and on rich green meadows. Although the wild plant prefers High nitrogen and well-fertilized soil,  it can also adapt in a different type of soil. They are often found on those mountainous areas where cows and horses usually  graze and leave their  ejections that have been transformed  into manure and act as organic fertilizer in the soil.

                 Olaci could also be cultivated in vegetable gardens. However, we don’ t find these cultivations in our areas because the "Good Henry" (the name of the Olaci  in the countries of Northern Italy), as a vegetable, is still considered not worth cultivating,  even though there is quite a request for them and even if Olaci also possess many therapeutic virtues.

Now, it is a fact that, whoever knows where to find the olaci,  obviously,  will never say where he’s going to gather them,  but our aim is to share the passion we have for our region and all its secrets. For this reason, "THE  SECRETS OF ABRUZZO" will tell you exactly where to find them.

                  However,  before doing so, for those who think of attempting an "olaci hunt", here are some top tips that will help finding them.

                  The best time to harvest  olaci  goes from May to July and the first thing to keep in mind is to look for them along sunny trails and pastures, where nettle plant bushes are also present.

In fact, olaci often grow in association with  the nettle plant that can be easily identified from distance before the wild herb can.

                  As for the edibility, they are cooked in a thousand ways and can be introduced in any recipe. Similar to spinach, they contain very oxalic acid and unfortunately it is not recommended for those who suffer arthritis, rheumatism, gout or kidney failure.

                   Beside the roots all the rest of the plant is edible. The leaves, raw or cooked, are nutritious and rich of iron, vitamins and minerals. For its qualities many people with problems like anemia can receive benefits eating it. Olaci can be effective even as emollients or laxatives.

                    As already mentioned up above, these kind of wild spinach grow in meadows that are constantly fattened with animal ejections, so better wash the olaci very well.  Using  bicarbonate as a diluent disinfectant in the water when washing them can also be a very good idea.

                    The buds or the unripe peaks of the young plants are preferred. They can be eaten raw in salad or cooked like vegetables, boiled  or fried in a pan and used as sauce, on pasta or rice,  inside the dough to make it green, as filling for ravioli, for soups or just as a side dish.

                     The scent is sharp but the taste is gently bitter. THE SECRETS OF ABRUZZO will soon propose you, in addition to the recipes of this article part II, traditional recipes with olaci that you can download from the site and easily cook.

                      The Olaci leaves are mainly used for omelets while the flowering jets can be consumed just like the asparagus.

                      Remember that, once cooked, these wild mountain herbs  shouldn’t absolutely be recooked as if doing so, they could produce toxic nitrates for our body.

                      All you need for collecting Olaci on the mountains  are a  pair of garden gloves, a basket and a knife. Remember not to extort  the roots of the plant when you collect them,  cut only the stem or the leaves. Respect nature and do not make an unbridled collection.

                      To learn about the localities of our region and where to find the wild mountain herb, and for our recipes, soon PART II,  just keep following  us on "THE SECRETS OF ABRUZZO" and you’ll know exactly where to go and what to do.