Edible wild plants have been an essential part of the local diet here in the Galilee going back to the stone age hunters and gatherers.  I have learned from neighbors in the nearby Bedouin villages which plants are good to eat, where to find them, and how to prepare them.  One of the staples, which is considered a seasonal delicacy, is wild chicory – known in Arabic as elet, and in Hebrew as olesh.  It can be found around the edges of fields – a low-growing starburst of scalloped leaves.  And it is considered to be extremely healthy – good for “cleaning the blood”, as my Bedouin friends have explained.

Going out and gathering is not as commonly practiced in the traditional Arab cultures of the Galilee as it once was – yet the taste for elet remains.  Now enterprising farmers have started to cultivate elet and other edible wild plants, and sell them in the local Arab green grocers.

Since it was too muddy to go out picking, I bought my elet in Kfar Manda, and cooked it up the traditional way – washing, chopping it, cooking it in boiling water for a few minute to take out the bitterness, then sautéing it with lots of chopped onion in a profusion of olive oil.  It did not disappoint!

Next week I’ll be leading an edible wild plants cooking day with a Bedouin guide here in the Galilee.  For more information, see my website www.galileecuisine.co.il