the name of a number of plants of the genus Rumex. The sour taste of their edible leaves is responsible for the name ‘sorrel’, and all other European names for the plants also mean ‘sour’. Wood sorrel is not closely related, though its leaves have a similar flavour.
Sorrels grow wild throughout Europe and Asia. There are a few native American kinds, but the common species from the Old World are now naturalized. The main European wild species are common sorrel, Rumex acetosa; and round-leafed or French sorrel, R. scutatus. These have been eaten as green vegetables since ancient times. Even in the 20th century English schoolchildren would eat ‘sour dabs’, sorrel picked from the wild.
At first common sorrel was the most used, and it was often cultivated. During the Middle Ages improved varieties of round-leafed sorrel were bred in Italy and France, and these became more popular. The new ‘French’ or ‘Roman’ sorrel arrived in England at the end of the 16th century, and was ousting the older species in popularity by the end of the 17th. It is now the most widely cultivated kind, and is much eaten in France and Italy. French sorrel, although it is the mildest kind, retains the typical sour and bitter taste, which is due to the presence of oxalic acid.
When sorrel is eaten as a vegetable it may be blanched first and the water discarded to reduce the acidity. One old practice was to mix it with orach, a leafy vegetable of mild flavour. Sorrel is added to salads and used as an ingredient in soups, purées, and sauces, as an omelette filling, and as a stuffing for fish where its sharp flavour is especially good. It also has a reputation for dissolving, by means of the oxalic acid which it contains, the tiresome small bones found in certain fish, such as the shad. However, experiments reported by Jaine (1986) suggest that there is little basis for this and that it is prolonged cooking rather than sorrel which achieves the desired effect.
An old English accompaniment to meat and fish was greensauce made from sorrel pounded to a paste with vinegar or lemon juice and sugar; and this name was also applied to the plant itself.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
Jaine, Tom (1986b), ‘Oxalic Acid: Does it Rot Fish Bones’, in Cookery: Science, Lore and Books, Oxford Symposium on Food History 1984 and 1985, London: Prospect Books.
