Herb
Sanguisorba minor
S tier
Sanguisorba minor is salad burnet—pinnate leaves with a cool cucumber-watermelon freshness for salads, soft cheeses, and summer drinks. Smaller and more kitchen-friendly than great burnet, it thrives in dryish temperate gardens. Clip young leaves continuously; older foliage toughens. Species is the culinary standard behind the primary herb. Flowers are drumstick-like but leaves are the prize.
Track this ingredient
Unit
Characteristics
Preparations
Pimm's StyleSaladSoft CheeseVinaigretteYoung Leaf
Traits
CoolCucumberCucumber FreshFreshGreenPinnate LeafTemperateTrue Salad Species
History
GB
English kitchen gardens grew Sanguisorba minor for salads and claret cups.
FR
French herbal cookery used pimpernelle-type burnet leaves.
Botany fixed Sanguisorba minor as salad burnet.
Herb revivals returned minor to mesclun and cocktail gardens.