Marvelous malva

Spring is all about greens. Foraging for edible wild greens seems like a new trend but in rural Anatolia it has been a strong tradition for ages, more precisely since the hunter-gatherers of the Paleolithic Karain Cave just north of the Mediterranean city of Antalya. This means about 200,000 years of foraging heritage, though Anatolian foliage must have changed drastically since then. Anyway, anything edible in the wild has long been discovered in this land of plenty. 

One of the marvels of the edible wild world has to be malva sylvestris. Common mallow is one of the edible greens that grow in every corner of Anatolia. Ebegümeci in Turkish, it is a lovely green and often not appreciated enough. It belongs to the malvaceae family, which is a relative of okra and hibiscus. They all have the same properties, soothing the body miraculously in many ways. In the West mallow is often recognized for its medicinal properties, but not for its place in the kitchen. It is true that mallow is a great remedy for respiratory and digestive system malfunctions; it aids in a way like an anti-clog drain cleaner for both systems. Asthma and bronchitis sufferers will benefit from its expectorant effect in the lungs and throat. It works in the same way with the intestines, as its mucilaginous property is reminiscent of okra and acts as a laxative. It is good for cleansing the body and it is an efficient diuretic as well. Besides working wonders for the inner body, mallow can be a friend to your outer appearance; with its softening properties it will make the skin silky supple, sooth irritated itches and give your hair a nice bouncy curl. 

While its place in folk remedy is strong, the place where mallow shines is in the rural Anatolian kitchen. It is often treated like...