Borage, the vegetable that you may be missing
If you like vegetables either you love borage or you don't know it . It happens to many that the only thing they know about her is that expression of "peter out" that the RAE defines as "something of little or no importance, especially when at first it seemed to have it" and they have never tried it. Well, it is misleading to believe that borages are things of little importance. To start, was one of the first vegetables brought to America after the Discovery.
borago officinalis is the cult name of this annual vegetable, of fleshy, hollow stem , whose size ranges between 60 to 150cm tall . Has white, blue, or purple edible flowers . Many times it grows spontaneously in fallow land, riverbanks and orchards. It is true that its surface, full of fine spikes, may initially be objectionable, but once peeled and cleaned, or simply boiled, it becomes so soft and digestible that everything is forgiven. Borage feels great.
At a site near Calatayud (Zaragoza) ** Celtiberian pots were found, the analysis of which proved that borage was already consumed there 2,200 years ago. Borage was described by Pliny in ancient times. In the Linnaean classification, the name “officinalis” was added to all those plants that were used with medicinal purposes and therefore were part of the office, or monasteries warehouse.
Delicious borajita with bacon
Borage is a source of vitamins A and C , It is also rich in minerals such as iron, calcium and potassium . In addition to the properties diuretic, emollient and anti-inflammatory Calming and anti-stress benefits are attributed to it. Furthermore, it provides only 21 calories per 100 grams of product.
FLAG-BEARERS OF BORAGE
The connection with the borage territory is enormous, similar to that which can be professed by Galicians with their turnip tops . From ** La Rioja , Navarra ** to the confines of Aragon , and in parts of ** Catalonia and the Balearic Islands ** borage lovers number in the thousands.
Perhaps it is not the vegetable that accumulates the most mentions on Instagram, since it is far surpassed by even less photogenic vegetables such as #chard or #spinach. But is that what is important? Before us is a delicious vegetable , with many beneficial properties and which is also not difficult to grow. Borage Command is the name given to a group of environmental activists that operates in Navarra, planting with concealment and treachery borage and other vegetables in the barren and degraded parterres of some Navarran towns.
Much more solemn are the chapters of the Borage and Crespillo Brotherhood founded in 2012 that walks its green capes around Zaragoza in honor of this vegetable . They come punctually with their green throne of borage leaves to the traditional offering of fruits to the Virgen del Pilar. Is gastronomic brotherhood wants to exalt the virtues of borage and that it comes to be considered Aragon the reference of this vegetable on an international level.
RECIPES AND USES OF BORAGE
There is no recipe book Aragonese or Navarran cuisine that does not include borage among its leaves. Neither ancient nor modern. Borage has traditionally been prepared boiled with potatoes, watered with raw extra virgin olive oil . A recipe as simple as it is delicious.
Culinary creativity has been in charge of finding other uses for this vegetable: borage with clams is almost a classic . The borage, cheese and walnut croquettes are a crunchy alternative.
Y borage desserts ? This is where the vegetable shows its versatility. The crespillos are battered and sweet borage leaves yes And in Mallorca borage has traditionally been used to make sweet donuts.
All for borage, even a brotherhood!
This vegetable is not at odds with the avant-garde kitchen , being many the preparations in which it is included in novel formats. We will give an example: Razor Cross is the winning cover XV Zaragoza Tapas Contest and among its ingredients is borage in the form of coral . The crisp leaves are achieved by adding corn starch flour and oil to a concentrate of borage, later it is fried as if it were a pancake. An original creation of Susana Casanovas from La Clandestina Restaurant (Zaragoza).
Searching through French cookbooks, we find the borage long mentioned in the dishes of the Chef Michel Bras . For example, in its colorful “July 2 Early Vegetable Gargouillou” , a multicolored sprouts and vegetables platter that reaches its best version on this day, since Bras considers that it is on that precise date when nature reaches its maximum in terms of generosity and variety of wild plant species and horticultural.
Cruz de Navajas, the winning cover of the XV Zaragoza Tapas Contest