We would like to quote this interesting recipe dating back to the beginning of the Seventeenth century: it’s for a salad, which should be made in early spring, when the leaves of the cultivated and wild plants are young and tender, and savoured with a sprinkle of salt, pepper, a few drops of vinegar and a generous serving of extravergin olive oil, monocultivar Casaliva Garda Dop.
“Select the newly sprouting leaves of curly mint, nasturtium, basil, lemon grass; the shoots of anise and tarragon, the leaves and blossoms of borage, some buckhorn flowers, tender shoots of fennel, rocket salad and sorrel leaves and rosemary flowers, some sweet violets, and the hearts and tender leaves of various types of lettuce. These excellent herbs, deprived of all wilted leaves and rinsed a number of times in fresh water, should be pat dried with a clean linen cloth and dressed as previously illustrated (…)”.
From: Breve racconto di tutte le radici, di tutte le erbe e di tutti i frutti che crudi o cotti in Italia si mangiano (A summary of all the roots, herbs and fruit that, either raw or cooked, are eaten in Italy) by G. Castelvetro, 1614.
