canónigos

[butterfly]

I have developed such an abiding affection for canónigos that it is really bothering me that I can't find a word for them in my native language. I think they could be the perfect green--pretty little bundles of tender leaves with sweet and bitter undertones--what watercress could be if it was less assertive and much easier to clean.

According to my French-Spanish dictionary, they translate as "mâche" in French.

I don't think I've ever seen them on the other side of the pond. Perhaps the British have a term for them...

[Bux]

Mache has become fairly common in the US. Well at least in NY. It's familiarly known as lamb's tongue or lamb's leaf. I believe it's also known as corn salad.

[carswell]

Valerianella olitoria aka V. locusta aka field salad, corn salad (corn here being in the sense of grain, not maize, as the plant occurs as a weed in fields of grain; the French nominal equivalent is salade de blé, i.e. wheat salad), mâche, fetticus (infrequent), vetticost (infrequent) and lamb's lettuce. Lamb's tongue, yes, though that name is also used for the similar roary plantain (Plantago media) and the very unsimilar Stachys byzantina (aka lamb's ears), a groundcover with thick silvery velour-like leaves.

edit: typo

Edited March 9, 2005 by carswell (log)

[butterfly]

Thanks for the responses! A (food-obsessed) French colleague told me today that mâche often refers to a another green--and that she calls canónigos "doucette".

Canónigos are not lamb's tongue--at least not as I knew this green in the US.

The photos of lamb's lettuce that turned up when I searched online vary quite a bit... some appear to be canónigos and others are quite different.

Corn salad seems to be the term of choice in the UK and these appear to be canónigos (though this photo is rather ambiguous):

http://www.humeseeds.com/letcs.htm

Edited March 9, 2005 by butterfly (log)

[carswell]

Le Robert doesn't support your friend's claim and gives doucette as a synonym of mâche. Other sources list mâche commune, doucette, clairette, blanchette, salade de blé and valérianelle potagère as synonyms. The confusion may spring from the looseness of the term: several works mention that "corn salad" is used to designate any of several plants of the genus Valerianella of the valerian family.

[butterfly]

I sought further clarification on this... My French colleague insists that mâche can refer to a larger subset of greens, while in her experience doucette is a more specific term for "canónigos." Of course a rose by any other name smells just a sweet...

Apparently, canónigos are common in the Loire valley and around Nantes--two areas where I once lived and somehow never encountered them... Here in Madrid, they are readily available in most markets... But I'm not sure where they emanate from... I'd guess somewhere up north.

[Bux]

I recall seeing what I know of as mâche, in a market in Madrid. I seem to recall them package in a small box or tray with a label indicating they were grown in France.

[vserna]

What they sell in Madrid are 'mâche nantaise' - indeed from Nantes. This is a nice but bland type of lamb's lettuce. OTOH, there is a much more pungent and interesting version of mâche in Switzerland, but there it's called 'rampons' - highly recommended!

[Saborosa]

I think this is probably repeating what's already been written, but in the uk this leaf is known as lamb's lettuce or corn salad. There are different varieties that come under the lamb's lettuce 'umbrella' which have different looks and flavours. The 'packaged' canonigos I seem to see most of looks like 'favor' to me.

Edited March 14, 2005 by Saborosa (log)