"Jack Campin - bogus address" > wrote in message
...
> Something I've seen on sale in Istanbul a couple of times:
> bundles of green stems about a foot long with slightly hairy
> skin. You peel the skin off and chew them. They taste like
> rather woody raw rhubarb. According to one person I spoke
> to, they're from somewhere a long way from Istanbul. They
> seem like the sort of thing a shepherd might chew on for
> lack of any real fruit and then get nostalgic about. You
> see peasants on buses chewing them. They doubtless have
> lots of vitamin C but are not really a taste treat.
>
> What is the plant? Turkish name or Linnaean binomial.
>
My best guess is that it is some variety of sorrel (Rumex).
Definitely a good source of vitamin C. My grandmother used to
make soup from sorrel leaves (Schav). Even the little weedy sorrel
found in the lawn is usable in a pinch if you can't find the big cultivated
type.

WEL