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Picardy
On the schorre of the Baie de Somme, at low tide, foragers kneel before broad, tender-green leaves: aster maritime, which everyone here calls the oreille de cochon.
Vegetable from Picardy.
Aster maritime (Tripolium pannonicum, long classified under the name Aster tripolium) is a halophyte: a plant adapted to the saltiest soils, capable of withstanding concentrations exceeding 20 grams of salt per litre. It grows in the salt marshes — the schorres — of the Baie de Somme and the baie d'Authie, regularly submerged by spring tides, alongside samphire and sea purslane.
In the Baie de Somme, hardly anyone calls it by its scientific name. Its broad, rounded, thick and glossy leaves have earned it the nickname oreille de cochon ('pig's ear'); it is also known as 'sea spinach', for its flavour reminiscent of the green vegetable. Harvesting, reserved for the fine days of May and June, takes place at low tide on the schorre, leaf by leaf and by hand — professional shore fishers, licensed for commercial harvesting, derive part of their livelihood from it, alongside the samphire they gather in the same spots.
Long confined to family tables and the baskets of shore fishers, aster maritime has made its way onto restaurant menus and into the jars of the bay's artisan canneries. Chef Nicolas Dantin, at the Auberge de la Dune in Saint-Firmin-les-Crotoy, features it on his locavore blackboard menu, delivered in 25 kg sacks, steamed as a garnish or served raw in salads. The Au Coin Goûteux cannery, in Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, offers it in jars of vinegar, harvested from the molières between Saint-Valery-sur-Somme and Le Crotoy.
Appearance
broad, rounded, tender-green leaves, thick and fleshy, with a glossy surface
Aroma
iodised, marine
Taste
slightly salty, notes of iodised spinach, occasionally with a discreetly peppery finish
Texture
fleshy and crisp on young shoots, becoming more fibrous as the leaf ages
leaf by leaf, without any cutting tool, leaving the base of the plant intact to preserve the resource.
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Aster maritime is simply cooked: pan-fried with garlic and olive oil, in an omelette, in a seafood risotto, or quite simply raw in small quantities in a seaside salad. Its iodised flavour makes it a natural accompaniment to fish, seafood and salt-marsh lamb, which shares the bay's salt pastures with it. Preserved in jars of vinegar, it is enjoyed cold, in salads, throughout the year.
Artisanal manufacturer
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