Orache
Atriplex hortensis · Leafy green
Top 10 pairings
Orache is the tender leaves and shoots of the garden orache (Atriplex hortensis), a fast-growing annual of the amaranth family long grown as a spinach-like leafy green. Mild, faintly salty and earthy, it is eaten raw in salads when young and cooked like spinach when older — hence its common name, "mountain spinach."
Picking a good onedrag
Small tender leaves, shoots snap wetYellowed and limp, slimy at the tie
Market freshEveryday bestWash and spin dry, young leaf raw in salad. Like spinach and chard it carries oxalates: a real question for people prone to kidney stones, not for most cooks.
The leavesEven colour still, blades broader but unmarked
Shoots and tipsBend a little before they snap, green right through
The liftStands a moment, then the tops fold over slowly