Le Potage aux Orties

The chief vegetables to be found on the table, accompanying any meat or presented on their own, are the légumes (peas and beans) or potatoes, with sometimes sorrel as a welcome addition in spring. And in spring thrifty housekeepers in the country turn to other plants growing in the wild – in spite of an inborn unease about eating anything that has not been cultivated by themselves. For instance, when the young nettles first shoot and are too young even to sting, they are collected and the l