. . and railway salad
My brother and I spent most of our childhood with our maternal Nonna - La Signora Emma Paradisi - who was imported in 1985 from Milan to Ville Mont-Royal, where we grew up. As musicians, our parents spent most of the year touring Quebec and Canada.
Although today I consider myself very lucky to have had a hybrid childhood heavily infused with Italian culture, at the time I was less at ease with certain cultural clashes that I was confronted with or had to try to explain to my neighborhood friends. Like when I had quail in my lunchbox at school... Or like every early spring, when Nonna Emma would be out on the 'wild' railroad tracks that run through Ville Mont-Royal just across the street from our house.
Armed with a small knife and a bag from Perette's convenience store, she set off for her daily gathering of dandelion leaves.
This harvesting, which to the neighbors and my friends seemed very odd, was used for salads, which she made for every meal during the few weeks before the dandelions flowered, since after that, the leaves became too hard and bitter.
When she would take us with her on weekend pickings, I remember feeling a little ashamed under the curious stares of passers-by, but deep down I was amazed that only my grandmother knew how to pick and eat wild plants.
I imagined him as an Italian version of Asterix and Obelix's Druid, whom I adored.
The leaves of the dandelion are a kind of cicoria or chicory which are used in a multitude of Italian dishes. In northern Italy, chicory is considered a purifying spring remedy, and is usually eaten raw in a salad to preserve the plant's nutrients. In Rome, chicory is traditionally cooked with spaghetti and pecorino cheese on May 1st. In Puglia, spaghetti is replaced by raw fava beans for the typical May 1st starter. Fave, Cicoria e Pecorino ".
It was only after several years that I acquired a taste for this salad, which at a young age I found too bitter. Today, when I eat it, I remember Emma saying to me: " Ma dai! Mangia un pochino... che ti fa bene! "Come on, eat a little... it'll do you good!
Emma preferred it in a salad.
Raw dandelion leaves, coarsely chopped
Olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Salt.
I've been enjoying this dandelion salad since I was a child, and for 3 generations we've prepared it like this;
Young dandelion leaves, large bouquet of chives, crème fraîche, salt and pepper. A real delight.
Marie-Claude Bégin
Reverse lots
I got this recipe from my grandparents Pierre Dufour and Marie-Louise Gagné of Saint-Juste- du lac in Témiscouata.
My mother, originally from the Périgord region, never missed the springtime dandelion season. To finish her salad, she would add a soft-boiled egg, the bright yellow of which would color the salad, and pour in some hot lardons to lightly cook the leaves. A beautiful memory.
Quanto sei fortunato ad aver avuto quelle esperienze con tua nonna. Era una grande insegnante. Non vedo l'ora che arrivi già la prossima primavera per mangiare le foglie del bambino!