Beautiful at first glance with bluish tones of its flowers and the purple of its stems, surely you do not know what is borage and how is it prepared in delicious cooking recipes. Because, indeed, this plant from the Spanish countryside can also be added to your dishes in various preparations that we are going to mention. To who Spain It is grown especially in three specific regions, but we are going to focus on its origin and culinary use. Find out everything about this vegetables unknown here.
Origin and presence of this beautiful plant
Belonging to the boraginaceae family, the borage It is one of those plants that have their stems and leaves full of fine hairs. When collected from nature, therefore, you can notice that texture a little rough. This is perhaps its only unpleasant point, since from the nice purple print that it offers you when you see it in the field until its use as food, this plant is a marvel. Now that you know its origin, it is convenient to introduce a small note and it is that in countries like France or Italy is considered a fancy vegetable, a product good gourmet food. Prestigious restaurants specialized in its cooking justify this statement.
However, here in our country it is quite unknown in almost all communities except three: La Rioja, Navarra and Aragon. Especially, Riojans use it frequently in exquisite popular preparations through a saute or boiled accompanied by potatoes. Then, in the other two regions, in those areas bathed by the Ebro river this plant is usually present. Thus, in the Ribera represents up to a 25% of the total national production of said vegetable. Although you can also find it in private gardens that grow it for their own consumption.
So what is borage and how is it prepared?
Its characteristics go through enjoying a easy growth that occurs in the early autumn and for being very resistant to adverse weather conditions such as frost. Of course, once its harvest begins in early spring, by cutting its stems, it becomes a vegetable quite perishable. Therefore, its maintenance once purchased must be careful, in the refrigerator in a good container. Before consuming it, it is advisable wash it and know how to clean it adequately. We explain you in a few steps what is borage and how is it prepared following. But first you must know how to choose it at the point of sale.
Because the best thing about this vegetable is its tender heart, this high quality one that offers you a deep and uniform green color. Make sure the produce is fresh, just like you do when you buy other similar vegetables. Then, we anticipate that neither the stems nor the leaves are edible, although the latter do have an important role in confectionery. You want to know why? Let's keep going!
Cleaning and use in the kitchen
Arm yourself with patience to clean the borage well: You must remove the base of the trunk, the damaged stems and also the upper leaves. Then, select each stem to split at the top and begin a gentle stretch all the way down. In this way you get to eliminate from the equation the hardest part (a kind of central nerve of the plant). Once this process is complete, chop to your liking and you already have the borage ready to cook. The truth is that it is a very versatile food that you can consume in raw to add to salads or cooked to accompany rice, potatoes, pasta, etc. Use your imagination to create original recipes. In tortillas, scrambled, risottos...
Even a Typical dessert Aragonese uses its leaves to sweeten your palate. The calls crepes, traditional of Barbastro (Huesca), are made by coating said leaf with flour, egg and anise. Afterwards, they are fried before sprinkling sugar on top. They remind the murcian paparajotes, but with this part of the beautiful and unknown vegetable. Go ahead and include it in your diet because its benefits are numerous. For example, it is one of the more nutritious vegetables thanks to its large amounts of minerals and vitamins A, B, D and C. In addition, it is a great source of fiber and even gamma linoleic acid (GLA).
That way, now that you know what is borage and how is it preparedAll you have to do is take advantage of its properties to improve the health of your bones and your skin.
