Meeting primrose and Primerolle recipe

Primrose (Primula vulgaris) or ‘prima rosa’ (first rose), the herald of Spring and an early sign of things to come for the season. Primrose is a perennial, often growing in woodland and hedgerows as well as brightening banks, particularly in my neck of the woods in North Devon. The five petalled flowers of the wild plant are mostly pale yellow with a deeper yellow splash in the centre; light pink and purple flowered varieties can also be commonly found in the wild. We share the edibility of primrose with insects, particularly bees, butterflies and moths who support the plant with pollination.

Edible parts include the flowers and leaves both raw or cooked. I find that the flowers have a delicate and very subtle flavour akin to icing sugar and the leaves have a fairly bitter but highly palatable taste. Primrose leaves, for me, have been a mainstay salad leaf due to the great profusion in which they grow locally. However, their numbers have diminished dramatically over the centuries due to posies being unsustainably picked by rural communities and sent to market, particularly cowslip (Prumula veris) with its longer flower stem. Therefore, being mindful of this when gathering primrose, particularly the flowers, is advised (as of course with all wild food!). Other uses of the leaves include as an ingredient in soups and stews and as a tea. The flowers can be candied, used as a tea or added to salads. Recently, I had a play in the kitchen with primrose after coming across a 15th century recipe for ‘primrose pottage’ or ‘Primrolle’. See below for the recipe and a picture of the finished product.

As is often with spring flowers, various forms of folklore are attached to primrose, in particular to fairies and protection but also misfortune. Legend has is it that primroses can be the key to the fairie realm or be an invitation to benevolent fairie folk into the home. Conversely, primroses were scattered outside homes to keep fairies away or in cowsheds to keep fairies from stealing milk! On a more sinister note, it was deemed unlucky to give someone a single primrose bloom; an ill-fated gift which would bring about the death of a family member. Neighbours of a somewhat malicious persuasion would, out of spite, give children single blooms to take home. Nice.

Primrolle recipe

Ingredients (taken from Michael, P. (2015) Edible Wild Plants and Herbs)

2 tablespoons of flaked almonds

2 tablespoons of ground rice

150ml white wine

12 primrose flowers (pounded to a paste)

Large pinch of saffron (or as big a pinch as budget allows!)

Pinch of salt

2 tablespoons of sugar or 1 tablespoon of honey

1 previously-baked pastry case

Time for another adventure in the kitchen, this time hopefully without inclusion from the smoke alarm. I was taken back in time for this one, back to the 15th Century, for which the perfect accompaniment was the audible delights of Rodrigo Martinez. I opted for a relatively small pinch of saffron, sugar and shortcrust pastry cases for my version of Primerolle – the traditional recipe calls for a hard pastry case which was used as a vessel for the semolina-like pudding but wasn’t eaten.

First into the pan went the almonds and rice. Next the wine was added and the trio were mixed together over a low heat. The saffron, primrose flower paste, salt and sugar followed and were stirred into the mix which began to thicken. The instructions in Michael’s book say to gently cook for 20 minutes during which time more wine can be added if the mixture becomes too thick. I found this to be the case fairly quickly so did add more (likely excuse); however, the cooking time was reduced at least by half otherwise a whole bottle would’ve gone in. The final consistency was a fair bit thicker than semolina pudding, but the pudding mix sat nicely on the pastry cases and was the perfect consistency for a single (yikes!) primrose bloom to be pressed into it. The flavour I got was mostly the wine but the sweetness was brought out and the sharpness reduced by the other ingredients to make it a rich and luxurious treat.