Samphire (Salicornia europaea) — marsh samphire, glasswort, "sea bean" or "sea asparagus" — is the jointed, leafless succulent that carpets the salt marshes, tidal mudflats and estuaries of temperate coasts. The bright, translucent green stems are eaten as a vegetable: snapping-crisp, juicy and intensely, naturally saline, they taste cleanly of the sea with a mineral, asparagus-like edge. Foraged on the foreshore or now farmed, it is blanched or steamed for a minute or two and classically served alongside fish with melted butter and a squeeze of lemon — and it never needs added salt.