Goutweed-My Kitchen Witchy Herb of the Week

Goutweed
Other Names:
Achweed, Aegopodium podagraria, Angelica Menor, Ashweed, Bishop's Elder, Bishop's Goutweed, Bishopsweed, Bishopswort, Égopode Podagraire, Egopodio, Eltroot, English Goatweed, Gout Herb, Goutwort, Ground Elder, Herb Gerard, Herbe de Saint-Gérard, Herbes-aux-Goutteux, Jack-Jump-About, Masterwort, Petite Angélique, Pigweed, Pied d’Aigle, Pied de Chèvre, Podagraire, Weyl Ash, White Ash.

Gout Weed has a long history of medicinal use besides being cultivated for food. It

was the main gout treatment. One theory is the clergy got a lot of gout because they

ate better than most but reports about St. Gerard say he lived poorly, giving half of

what he ever made to his mother and the other half to those more poor than he. All

parts of the plant are diuretic. It has been used to also treat rheumatism, arthritis

and bladder disorders. Some credit consumption of the plant, others external use in

the area of the gout, such as crushing the root and holding it at the joint.

Goutweed is a plant. People use the parts that grow above the ground for medicine.

Goutweed is a member of the apiaceae also known as the umbellifer family. It has many tasty relatives, such as carrot, parsnip or fennel. However, there are also some very poisonous members in this family - like the deadly water hemlock, the herb that infamously was used to execute Socrates. So if you intend to pick ANY of the umbellifers for food, make sure you are absolutely certain you have ID'd them correctly - a mistake could be fatal. However, Goutweed does not look much like Water Hemlock, so chances of mistaking it are quite remote. More dangerous for US based foragers is the similarity of its leaves with those of poison ivy. Like those of that viscious vine its leaves also sprout in threes and have a similar size and shape. Again, be very careful and very certain you have the correct species before you start munching it, or even start picking it.

One distinguishing feature - Goutweed will NEVER grow as a vine. But poison ivy does not always grow as a vine either. Once the flowers are out they are easier to distinguish, as goutweed has typical umbel shaped flowers while poison ivy has trailing flower clusters. Goutweed never develops any woody parts and its leaves are not glossy. Prior to unfurling the very young leaves are shiny and bright green. Goutweed does not look hairy. It loves popping up as a weed in gardens, but can also be found in damp shady places in the woods or hedges. In Europe it likes to grow in the company of nettles, another delicious edible and quite invasive species.

As the name suggests, Goutweed was once used to alleviate the pain of gout. This medicinal use has gone out of fashion in modern herbalism and I cannot attest to its efficacy since I do not suffer from this very painful condition. However, I can attest to its cleansing action and general beneficial effect on elimination. Goutweed is a useful herb to help 'move things around' whenever there is an energy blockage in the body. It is a diuretic, but it also gently stimulates digestion and metabolism. It is a good source of vitamin C and A as well as minerals such as iron and manganese, copper and trace minerals such as boron and titanium.

In the US it occurs throughout the Eastern States as well as in the Pacific Northwest, though it is not as abundant as in the Old World, where once upon a time it was purposely planted as a vegetable. Once established it is almost impossible to eradicate and so, to this day, it occurs throughout Europe, from Scandinavia to the south of Italy.

Recipes for cooking with Goutweed Aegopodium podagraria L.
Goutweed is very versatile and can be used like spinach. Older leaves develop a more pungent flavor.

Goutweed Soup

1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cubed
Handful of mushrooms
2 large handfuls of young goutweed, washed well and chopped
Vegetable stock
Sautee the onions till soft. Add mushrooms and garlic. Add the potatoes and sautee for 3 minutes or so. Add Vegetable stock (about 1 liter) and cook the soup until the potatoes are soft. Add the goutweed and simmer for about 5 minutes. Puree, dilute to desired consistency and add salt, pepper, chilies or other herbs to taste.

Empanada filling

Onion
Mushrooms
Tofu
Garlic
Goutweed
Make your empanada pastry (many people just use a basic shortcrust recipe, but feel free to make the dough as fancy as you like. Chill in the fridge for at least an hour. Roll it out in 6" diameter rounds.

For the filling, cube the tofu and fry in a little bit of soy sauce until crispy. Put aside. Sautee onion mushrooms and garlic, add seasoning

Add goutweed, stir in and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the tofu bits. You should now have a pan full of delicious filling for your empanadas. Cool the filling for an hour or so.

Preheat the oven to 350°F = 176°C

Place a handful of filling in the center of your empanada round and fold it over to make a parcel. Press together the edges, with a little water if necessary to make them stick. Glaze with egg-wash (egg yolk mixed with a little water). Line a cookie sheet with baking paper and place the empanadas on it. Bake for about 30 min.

No doubt you'll come up with dozens more delicious recipes - that is the wonderful thing about things like Goutweed, which just provide you with a tasty, healthy green to add to just about anything.

Goutweed is used for rheumatic diseases. This is a disease category that includes autoimmune diseases and diseases that affect the joints and soft tissues. Gout and arthritis are examples of rheumatic diseases.

Goutweed is also used for hemorrhoids, as well as for kidney, bladder, and intestinal disorders.
Gout and other rheumatic diseases.
Hemorrhoids.
Kidney disorders.
Bladder disorders.
Intestinal disorders.
Other conditions.

While it may have indeed been medicinal it was also a prime salad ingredient and pot

herb in Europe. It is now naturalized in many areas of North America including most of

Canada, the eastern United States excluding most of the Old South and West save for

Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana.


Note the veins of Gout Weed leaf terminate at the tip of a tooth. In the toxic

hemlocks the veins terminated between the teeth.
The young leaves of the Gout Weed are translucent and shiny green. Tender and

aromatic, they are excellent additions to salads as are young stems. When older they

are often cooked with cheese. They have been added to fritters as well. In northwest

Germany Gout Weed is made into grune suppe, green soup. As for taste, opinions are

divided. You either love it or hate it. As a vegetable it is very prolific and spreads

by rhizomes.

Botanically Gout weed, or Goutweed, is Aegopodium podagraria, ee-guh-POH-dee-um pod-

uh-GRAR-ee-uh, or, ee-go-poh-DEE-um pod-uh-GRAR-ee-uh. The genus, Aegopodium, is from

the Greek words “agios” meaning goat and “podion” which means little foot. Little Goat

Foot, so named because the shape of the leaf resembles the shape of a goat’s foot.

Podagaria is also Greek and  means “gout of the foot.”

DO NOT CONFUSE THIS PLANT WITH THE DEADLY TOXIC WATER HEMLOCK.

Goutweed

Botanical: Ægopodium podagraria (LINN.)
Family: N.O. Umbelliferae

Description
Medicinal Action and Uses
---Synonyms---Jack-jump-about. Goatweed. Herb Gerard. Ashweed. Achweed. English Masterwort. Wild Masterwort. Pigweed. Eltroot. Ground Elder. Bishop's Elder. Weyl Ash. White Ash. Bishopsweed. Bishopswort. Ground Ash.
---Parts Used---Herb, root.
---Habitat---Europe (except Spain) and Russian Asia. Not really indigenous to England.
---Description---The generic name is a corruption of the Greek aix, aigos (a goat) and pous, podos (a foot), from some fancied resemblance in the shape of the leaves to the foot of a goat. The specific name is derived from the Latin word for gout, podagra, because it was at one time a specific for gout.
It is a stout, erect plant, coarse and glabrous, a perennial; in height, 1 1/2 to 2 feet, sometimes more, the stem round, furrowed and hollow. It has a creeping root-stock and by this means it spreads rapidly and soon establishes itself, smothering all vegetation less rampant than its own. It is a common pest of orchards, shrubberies and ill-kept gardens, and is found on the outskirts of almost every village or town, being indeed rarely absent from a building of some description. It is possible that Buckwheat might drive it out if planted where Goutweed has gained a hold.

It was called Bishopsweed and Bishopswort, because so frequently found near old ecclesiastical ruins. It is said to have been introduced by the monks of the Middle Ages, who cultivated it as a herb of healing. It was called Herb Gerard, because it was dedicated to St. Gerard, who was formerly invoked to cure the gout, against which the herb was chiefly employed.

Its large leaves are alternate, the lobes ovate and sharply-toothed, 2 to 3 inches long. The radical leaves are on long stalks, bi- and tri-ternate. There are fewer stem-leaves; they are less divided, with smaller segments.

The umbels of flowers are rather large, with numerous, small white flowers, which are in bloom from June to August and are followed by flattened seed-vessels which when ripe are detached and jerked to a distance by the wind, hence its local name, 'Jack-jump-about.'

Gerard says:
'Herbe Gerard groweth of itself in gardens without setting or sowing and is so fruitful in its increase that when it hath once taken roote, it will hardly be gotten out againe, spoiling and getting every yeare more ground, to the annoying of better herbe.'
An Alpine species, which appears to possess all the bad properties of its congener, is found in Asia.
The plant is eaten by pigs, hence one of its names. The following charm is from an Anglo-Saxon Herbal:
'To preserve swine from sudden death take the worts lupin, bishopwort and others, drive the swine to the fold, hang the worts upon the four sides and upon the door' (Lacnunga, 82).
John Parkinson recommends cummin seed and bishopsweed 'for those who like to look pale.'
The white root-stock is pungent and aromatic, but the flavour of the leaves is strong and disagreeable.

Culpepper gives 'Bishop-weed' a separate description, and states it is also called 'Æthiopian Cummin-Seed,' and 'Cummin-Royal,' also 'Herb William' and 'Bull-Wort.' He also (like Parkinson) says that 'being drank or outwardly applied, it abates an high colour, and makes pale.'

Linnaeus recommends the young leaves boiled and eaten as a green vegetable, as in Sweden and Switzerland, and it used also to be eaten as a spring salad.


---Medicinal Action and Uses---Diuretic and sedative. Can be successfully employed internally for aches in the joints, gouty and sciatic pains, and externally as a fomentation for inflamed parts.

The roots and leaves boiled together, applied to the hip, and occasionally renewed,have a wonderful effect in some cases of sciatica.

Culpepper says:
'It is not to be supposed Goutwort hath its name for nothing, but upon experiment to heal the gout and sciatica; as also joint-aches and other cold griefs. The very bearing of it about one eases the pains of the gout and defends him that bears it from the disease.'
Gerard tells us that:
'with his roots stamped and laid upon members that are troubled or vexed with gout, swageth the paine, and taketh away the swelling and inflammation thereof, which occasioned the Germans to give it the name of Podagraria, because of his virtues in curing the gout.'
---Other Species---Bishopsweed is also the common name of Ammi majus.