Agretti (Salsola soda), known in Italy as barba di frate (monks beard) and in English sometimes as opposite-leaved saltwort or roscano, is a brief-season spring vegetable made up of slender, juicy, grass-like green shoots that grow in a dense tangle from a central root. Raw, the threadlike leaves are crisp and faintly salty; lightly cooked, they turn deep green and silky with a crunchy, mineral, slightly sour-saline bite that tastes of the salt-marsh soils the plant favours. It is a fleeting Italian delicacy, in the markets of central Italy for only a few weeks from spring into early summer, and is almost always treated simply — blanched or briefly sauteed and dressed with good olive oil, lemon or a little garlic and chilli, served as a contorno alongside fish or lamb.