Leeks and Folklore

Harvested the last of the Leeks, parsley bushes growing well more on parsley and its uses and importance as a multi vitamin and super food.
The Folklore. Leeks have been cultivated for thousands of years—they’re even mentioned in the Bible. The Emperor Nero ate them in great quantity, believing they improved his singing voice, earning him the nickname Porophagus ("leek eater"). The Facts. The lowly leek looks like a scallion on steroids. Indeed, it’s in the same family, along with garlic, onions and shallots. However, its flavor is more subtle than any of its cousins. Wild leeks, called ramps, are related, though they are more strongly flavored than the cultivated leeks you find in the supermarket. As a member of the Allium family, leeks contain the same healthful sulfur compounds found in garlic and onions, but in smaller amounts; you’ll need to eat more of leeks to reap the same benefits. Leeks also bring benefits like manganese, vitamin C, folate, vitamin B6 and iron.

Both Greeks and Romans favored this mild-tasting vegetable from the onion family for its curative properties in aiding the sore throat. Aristotle claimed that a diet of leeks contributed to the clear voice of the partridge. But it was in Wales—a country known as the Land Of Song—where this vegetable was elevated to a national emblem, and is even found on some British one pound coins today.

History and folklore pertaining to the leek yield a variety of anecdotes. The vegetable is believed to have been around for about 4,000 years. St. David—who founded many monasteries—is said to have survived on a limited diet of bread, water, watercress and leeks. About sixty years after his death, some say seventh century Welsh warriors adorned their helmets with leeks to identify which side of the battle they were on as Saxons invaded, fighting in leek fields. The Welsh won, and today St. David’s Day, the national holiday of Wales, is celebrated every March 1 with leeks (and daffodils, the national flower) decorating caps and worn as corsages. Curiously, the word for leek and daffodil is the same in the Welsh language (spoken by about one in six of the country’s three million residents).

In Wales, the peninsula of the western part of Britain, some holiday traditions include a drummer, fifer, (and sometimes a goat) parading around the table while a drum major carries a silver platter filled with leeks.