Dandelion - a Common Australian Garden

Resident
In Australia, and probably many other parts of the world, the common
dandelion is easily recognised by its bright yellow flowers and fluffy seed
head. Many lawns (unfortunately including my own) are full of dandelions
and they seem to pop their heads up the day after mowing, if the conditions
are right. They can be tricky to remove by hand as their tap root system,
which anchors the plant into the ground, can run very deep. The whole tap
root needs to be removed to kill the plant. There are several different
species of dandelion (Taraxacum Sp). Not all should be thought of as weeds
such as Taraxacum californicum
1
the endangered Californian dandelion and Taraxacum kok-saghyz
2
,
Russian dandelion, which produces rubber. The word dandelion is of
French origin and means lions tooth, which is apt given its difficulty to
remove, and are thought to have evolved over 30 million years ago in
Eurasia.
Medicinal Uses
Like so many other plants dandelion has been used as a herbal medicine by humans for much of
recorded history. The Indigenous people of America boil dandelion in water to treat skin problems,
heartburn, kidney disease, swelling and upset stomach
3
In traditional Chinese medicine it has been
used to treat abscesses, reduce eye inflammation and provoke diuresis
4
. Across Europe it has been
commonly used to remedy boils, eye problems, fever and diabetes
5
.
Of course this information is for educational purposes only, and is in no way intended to substitute
for the advice of a health care professional.
Eating Dandelion Leaves
Although a detested weed, dandelion can be used as a food source. Eaten raw, most people consider
dandelion leaves to be quite bitter. They taste bitter because they contain a
water soluble chemical called sesquiterpene lactones
6
which react with our
bitter taste receptors.
7
Although it is said that the young leaves are not
bitter they also contain the above mentioned lactones and will be bitter to
some degree. If you dont like the bitterness your options are to either
mask the taste with another flavour (like a strong salad dressing) or to
leech out the lactones by boiling the leaves. If you choose to boil the leaves
make sure you only do so for around 3 to 5 minutes. If you boil them too
long they will taste quite bland.
Dandelion as a beverage
Dried dandelion leaves can be infused into hot water to make what is known as dandelion tea. If
you wash the roots and slowly roast them in the oven at a very low temperature, they can then be
ground up and brewed into a coffee-like drink. Ive tried both the dandelion tea and dandelion
coffee. I found the tea a bit tasteless but the coffee actually wasnt too bad. Dandelion tea can be
purchased in some Australian shops and I have even seen it in some supermarkets. It is quite
expensive, funny that what most consider a weed costs so much to buy as a product in the
supermarket. Another drink which can be made is dandelion wine which is made using the flowers.
Last of all, if eating or drinking dandelion isnt your cup of tea (or wine) then your chickens will love
eating them!
Dandelion Coffee Recipe
Learn how to correctly identify a dandelion. Although at first glance it may seem simple there are
several other plants that look like a dandelion and you dont want to be picking the wrong ones.
Dandelion can be identified by its flower stalk and by its leaves, which are in a basal rosette. The
flower stalks rise straight up out of the centre of the radial leaves with each stalk holding one flower
head. Both stalks and leaves release latex, a milky sap when cut, and may cause skin irritation for
people who are latex-sensitive. Flowers begin as cylindrical, green buds huddled in the eye of the
leaf rosette and open into 5 cm bright yellow flowers. The seed heads are well known to most
people, especially children who blow them into the air to make wishes (and thereby propagate the
plant!). The bright green leaves are deeply and irregularly toothed, and can grow to 25cm in length.
Make sure that you only pick dandelion from your own garden so you know that they havent been
sprayed with herbicide.
Remove the dandelion from the earth. This is best done when the soil is
moist so you can get the whole tap root out. Ideally you want to pick really
large dandelion so you get plenty of tap root as this is what goes into the
coffee. Remove the leaves and eat them if you wish (after washing) or
throw them into a salad or whizz up into a smoothie with some fruit.
After gathering enough dandelion tap root (you will need at least 10 really large roots to make a
small batch) wash them several times to get all the dirt off them and once clean cut off the small
lateral roots from the main tap roots and discard.
Place the roots in between some newspaper and let them dry for a few days. Alternatively you could
use a food dehydrator if you are lucky enough to possess one.
Cut the dandelion roots into small sections under 1cm in length and then place them into an oven at
around 180 degrees Celsius with the door open for about 30 minutes. I
then cut them into even smaller pieces and put them back in the oven with
the door closed for roughly another 30 minutes. Keep an eye on them
throughout all this, the longer you roast them the sweeter the coffee will
taste but you dont want them to burn. Im not exactly sure as to how long I
roast them with the door closed, basically I just keep checking them and
when they are nice and dry and brown I know they are done.
Remove the roots and grind them thoroughly in a mortar and pestle. You
should now have a nice, dry substance which looks like instant coffee.
I like to brew the dandelion coffee in a plunger, adding 2 teaspoons per cup. Add milk and sugar if
you wish. I would describe the taste as very earthy, perhaps coffees long lost cousin!. It looks
identical to coffee when brewed. Enjoy.
Article and photo credits: Alex Krasovkis
References
1 http://www.amjbot.org/content/91/5/656.full
2 pub.jki.bund.de/index.php/JABFQ/article/download/2127/2513?
3 http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/dandelion
4 http://www.imjournal.com/resources/web_pdfs/0409_yarnell.pdf
5 http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/dandelion
6 http://www.imjournal.com/resources/web_pdfs/0409_yarnell.pdf
7 http://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17595105