Forgotten vegetables

While there is a large variety of vegetables to be found at farmers' markets and grocery stores, some veg that were once staples in diets around the world have faded into obscurity. The Takeout looks into fifteen of these all-but-forgotten vegetables and explains a bit of the history of each. While I was familiar with several of these foods, there were some to which I had not previously been introduced, like rampion and Chinese artichoke.

Many of the foods are leafy greens that fell out of fashion as more tender or easily grown options became widely available. Examples of these include sea kale and a plant called Good King Henry. Spinach supplanted the latter, while sea kale was replaced by crops that were easier to grow commercially. Wild sea kale has been over-foraged, but it is making a comeback on European shores.

Other vegetables lost out to their tamer cousins, as is the case with the black Spanish radish, which is striking to behold and also packs a punch. Some faded into obscurity after a newcomer captured everyone's attention. Once potatoes were introduced to Europe, skirret fell from favor, partly because its small roots are labor-intensive to prepare.

Of the vegetables on this list, I have grown and enjoy lovage and have sampled chicory root. The others I have not yet tried, but some will go on my "to-make" list when I can get my hands on some. How many of these "forgotten" vegetables have you tasted? Also, is it just me, or does that image of rampion look suspiciously like my garden nemesis, creeping bellflower?