An ornamental variation

Native to Eurasia, ground elder has been introduced around the world as an ornamental ground cover — I have some in my backyard and I don’t know how it got there. A member of the carrot family, it is usually eaten like any other salad green. Generally, anything you could do with spinach, you can do with ground elder.

It has a mild lemon/parsley-like flavor, so I’ve heard of it pairing well with fish.

That said, we’re getting to the part of the year where the leaves gain a more pungent taste and has a laxative effect. Through June, you should be good, but give up after July.

It also has a history as a medicinal herb to treat gout and arthritis, applied in hot wraps externally upon boiling both leaves and roots together. Ingested, the leaves have a diuretic effect and act as a mild sedative. Its use as a medicinal herb has largely declined during the modern era.

The plant is said to have been introduced into England by the Romans as a food plant and into Northern Europe as a medicinal herb by monks. It is still found growing in patches surrounding many monastic ruins in Europe, and descriptions of its use are found among monastic writings, such as in Physica by Hildegard von Bingen.

Here’s a great recipe I found for muffins:

Ground Elder and Vanilla Muffins
Ready in 30 minutes
Makes 12

30 g young ground-elder leaves (just over a cup when lightly pressed)
3 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cup plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2  tsp salt

Pour some boiling water over ground elder leaves and leave to stand for a few minutes.
Whisk eggs with sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the cooled melted butter, vanilla. Mix flour, baking powder and salt, then fold into the batter.
Drain the ground-elder and squeeze dry. Chop finely, then stir into the batter.
Divide into prepared muffin cups* and bake in the middle of 425 F
oven for 12-15 minutes, until muffins are lovely light golden brown.

* Either lined with paper muffin cases or generously buttered and dusted with flour.