Lucullian delights
I've never seen it, but apparently its very 'in' at the moment at the better Italian restaurants in our area. The Frittata looks wonderful!
Oh, this is as well called "barba di frate", isn't it? I've bought it only once and didn't know what to do with it, so I simply sautéd it in olive oil. But I'm looking forward very much to trying out your frittata, it looks delicious 
Yes, here in Milan they call it "Barba di frate". Lots of veggies and cuts of meat change names from Italian tregion to region. I once looked "barba di frate" up in an Italian-English dictionary and found the translation "samphire". I wasn't satisfied with that since I've eaten samphire in England and it was similar but not the same. Just calling it "agretti" in English like in the article you cite sounds fine to me.
I haven't heard of agretti, but I guessed from your pictures that it's a succulent. And then when Susan described it as "samphire," I remembered reading about samphire in my foraging books. It's a coastal plant (several plants, actually) and one of them is called glasswort.
I'm going to look for it along the beach!
Very interesting reading what everyone has written about this plant, but I'm quite sure I've never seen it or heard of it. And by the way, I know all about those "waking up in the night" thoughts. That's when I get up and read the food blogs.
I was so intrigued I decided to try to find out about agretti. Found that it is available around here (California) for about a month in very early spring. It seems to have achieved some sort of instant cachet. But I'm confused about cofusions between agretti and salcornia, which is really "sea beans". Where/how does (do) agretti grow, where you live? One mention says it is prized by sushi chefs. Hmmmm. Veddy inter-esting.
PS I also learned that we can buy the seeds at various specialty herb seed suppliers.
On the subject of herbs, I finally got around to making the Basilcello you posted about a while back. With purple basil it turned out the most beautiful rose pink. Thanks for the idea.
Samphire looks quite different, see here: http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/p...res/
crit_01.jpg
Wow what a lot of of answers! Barba di frate is another name, now that you say it I remember it! Kudzu, I'll ask around but i think it's cultivated a bit all over! Thanks Bix for the addition! CC-good luck! And thanks to all of you!
nice, very nice..., but that is not all: I have learned something new
Que tengas un lindo fin de semana!
M
Agretti? Never heard of it. Must look for it and see if they supply it here. Thanks, Ilva!
Paz
I've never heard of agretti either, but I'll look for it now. As usual, your photography is magnificent. You always make me so hungry when I look at your pictures. You have a gift.
At first I thought it looks like samphire as well, but now I don't know. It's all the craze here in the UK (see http://www.uktvfood.co.uk/index....item&ID=509472)
, though I haven't eaten any yet..
Hi Bix, How funny! The photo you put up is certainly "kritama" in Greek. I don't know the English for it! But it tastes like salty celery with citrus zest and it grows near the sea. The stuff they passed off as "samphire" in the English restaurant looked more like what Pille showed us. This is all very confusing.
Melissa-anche a te bellissima!
Paz-good luck, seems to a difficult vegetable to find!
Sher, thanks a lot, what a nice thing to say!
Pille-It looks like a cousin!
Susan-I agree with you!
There seem to be different varieties, one called "rock samphire" (Crithmum maritimum, http://flood.nhm.ac.uk/cgi-bin/f...oraNo%
5D=220800 ), which is described as tasting like fennel, and another one simple called samphire (Salicornia europaea, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasswort)
I was intoduced to agretti by a knowlegable art historian/culinarian in Rome about 2 years ago. Requested it for a group of food and art lovers from the midwest USA earlier this month on a vist to Rome. Dinner at Maccheroni. Most really enjoyed its unique flavor and "rare-ness". . NOt sure it would do well in Kansas. Like many foods it is best eaten in "terroir".
Sorry to hijack the post here, but -- kudzu, do you think it could be pickleweed? Ever so local.
The latin name of agretti is "Salsola soda" ! if you google it by that name, and as a picture, you will see that it is known under different names all over the world.
I am sorry to say I have not heatd of it up here in Finland, but if I ever find it,I will certainly make the frittata...and thank you for a lovely blog!
Thanks you all! I hope it's getting a bit clearer! Heidi even provided the Latin name so now it should be clear!
And cookiecrumb, you're welcome to take over anytime!
Hi Ilva and everyone,
According to the plant name database at University of Melbourne, agretti are Lepidium Sativum, known variously in English as Common garden cress, Garden cress, Pepper grass, and Pepperwort.
Chocolate Lady-Melbourne is wrong! Cress (crescione in Italian) is something completely different, if you take a look at my photos you will see that they don't even resemble each other. Why have they done this I wonder?
And checking up on Heidi's suggestion I can say that it isn't really that either. Normal Samphire seems to be the closest we can get! I haven't been able to find the Latin name for agretti but I'm looking for it!
Oh my, I have been relying on Melbourne for too long! PIctures of samphire seem more forky and clawed than the smooth agretti, but I guess they could be cousins.
Based on the Latin name (Salsola soda) I found the following English names for agretti: opposite leaved saltwort, barilla plant, alkali Russian thistle. The source is a comprehensive herb guide: http://www.terebess.hu/tiszaorve.../fuszer/
it.html. Very very interesting stuff. Even if it is in Hungarian. Ilva, thanks for your blog, I've just found it and get a great joy going through your archives.
Thanks Eszter! I will check that out!
Its called Monk's Beard in English, a poor translation of Barba Di Frate, Friar's Beard. It is in the chenepoaicaea family, of which Marsh Samphire of glasswort is a member.
Hi, there. I was just looking up agretti and came across your really lovely site. Read the comments and thought you would like to see the entry on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agretti. It is apparently some form of relative of samphire or Japanese land seaweed. Whatever it is I love it!
Thanks Miles and Karen!
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