Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Herb guide to Garden Orach along with all the Garden Orach containing recipes presented on this site, with 1 recipes in total.

e This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the Cornish recipes added to this site.

These recipes, all contain Garden Orach as a major herb flavouring.

Garden Orach, Atriplex hortensis (also known as Mountain Spinach) is an annual flowering plant and a member of the Chenopodiaceae (goosefoot) family. Like it's close relative, common orach (Atriplex patula), garden orach is edible. Garden Orach typically grows to 1.5cm tall and is in flower from July to September with its seeds ripening from August to October. The flowers themselves are monoecious (ie either male or female) though both flower types are found on a single plant. The plant tends to grow in disturbed ground and requires moist un-shaded soil. Garden orach originated in Eastern Europe, but is now widely distributed in temperate climes. It has a red form, Atriplex hortensis 'Rubra' which is the most commonly grown in gardens. This red form is still frequently eaten as a leafy vegetable in Continental Europe where it's often married with game, either as fresh leaves or as a purée.

The leaves of both green and red forms are triangular and can be up to 5cm in length. They typically grow in whorls around the central stem. The flowers are greenish in garden orach and reddish in red garden orach, are very small and are seen during the summer. If allowed, the plant self-seeds very readily and if you want to keep a population going, it's best to leave only a few seed heads to ripen, and to ensure that you gather them all for storage, or they will spread.

It is best grown in pots and can be eaten either raw or blanched like a potherb. To extend the life of the plant, the flower heads should be removed as soon as they appear. Leaves can be picked from the plant throughout its lifetime. The young leaves are pleasant in flavour and only have a mild taste and work well in salads. However, the leaves become tougher and more bitter as they age. Though older leaves can be eaten, they need to be blanched or boiled to make them more palatable.

Young leaves can be used in salads or used as a bed or garnish for meats (particularly game meats). Red orach is commonly used to make soups and in Eastern Europe the leaves are frequently served as a vegetable in a white sauce.