Wild cultivation of this green sea vegetable
Samphire grows in the slightly drier grassy parts of the salt marsh. At La Ferme des Baleines, we have wild samphire growing on the banks of our salt ponds alongside annual sea-blite and sea purslane.
These plants are halophiles, thriving in salty areas. In French, it is called ‘salicorne’, which comes from the Latin ‘sal’ for salt, and ‘cornu’ for horn, because of its horn-like branching stalks. Samphire is also called sea asparagus, sea pickle, sea beans, and glasswort. It may look like seaweed, but it's not! Samphire is the green vegetable with the highest concentration of Vitamin C. It grows near the sea and is naturally rich in vitamins (A, B, and C), minerals, and trace elements: potassium, manganese, iodine, silicon, boron, phosphorus, zinc, calcium, etc. This sea vegetable has diuretic, detoxifying, and invigorating properties and is low in calories.
We harvest samphire at La Ferme des Baleines between May and September. Samphire is prepared differently depending on when in the season it is harvested.
Cueillette du jour de pousses de salicorne
Salicorne et obione sauvages de la Ferme des Baleines
| Designation | Salicornia, Wild samphire on the Île de Ré |
| Merroir | Saint-Clément-des-Baleines Claire Salt Ponds, Île de Ré |
| Cultivation Type | Natural wild growth |
| Taste/texture | Delicate and crunchy shoots with a salty, vegetal taste |
| Season | May to September |
