;
chickpea and
Silene vulgaris stew The young shoots and the tender leaves are sometimes used as food in some countries of the
Mediterranean region. These are considered edible raw before the plant flowers and can be used in salads. In
Cyprus it is very widely eaten, so much so that in recent years it has once again been cultivated and sold in shops in bunches. Two of the common Cypriot names are
strouthouthkia (; ) and
tsakrithkia (; ).
Italy In Italy the leaves of this plant may be used as an ingredient in
risotto. It is commonly known as
sculpit,
stridolo or by the obsolete scientific name
Silene inflata, as well as
s-ciopetin,
grixol in
Veneto and
nenkuz or
sclopit in
Friuli and
cojet in
Piedmont.
Spain In the
La Mancha region of
Spain, where
S. vulgaris leaves are valued as a
green vegetable, there used to be people known as
collejeros who picked and sold these plants. Leaves are small and narrow so it takes many plants to obtain a sizeable amount. In La Mancha, the leaves, locally known as
collejas, were mainly used to prepare
gazpacho viudo (widower gazpacho), consisting of
flatbread known as
tortas de gazpacho and a
stew prepared with 'the leaves. Other dishes prepared with these leaves in Spain include
potaje de garbanzos y collejas,
huevos revueltos con collejas and
arroz con collejas. ==See also==