Sorrel Recipes

Common sorrel or dock, from the buckwheat family, is a feature of wild grasslands throughout Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Cultivated sorrel has been used for hundreds of years and added to everything from French soups and African peanut stews, to Spanakopita in Greece and battered and fried as an appetizer in Afghanistan. In North America, the use of sorrel has been less enthusiastic and is grown, mostly, as a weed, with relatively little culinary interest.

The name sorrel is derived from the Germanic word sur, meaning sour and once you put a fresh sorrel leaf into your mouth, you’ll know why. Sorrel is full of oxalic acid (named after the woodsorrel family Oxalidaceae), a strong acid that gives the plant its sour, lemon flavour. Sorrel, with a high level of vitamin C, was used to fight scurvy. It’s also a good source of vitamin A, calcium, magnesium and potassium.

Once sorrel starts to seed, cutting it back will produce a full second growth that can carry on well into the fall. Sorrel grows relatively easily in most conditions and doesn’t require much attention. As the plant ages, the flavour becomes increasingly bitter, but new plants can easily be grown by digging out a small portion of the root and replanting every year or so. This will ensure you’re always getting plants with a fresh, clean flavour.