A run… what is it good for? I’m absolutely not a fan!
But everybody keeps telling you, it’s good for you. They also say it’s addictive, before you know it you’ll want to run a marathon. Blablabla…Â
I have never been a fan. I find it boring. When I start my run I’m already bored. When can we stop running again? I’ve tried everything to distract me; music, start to run audio, audiobooks, inside running in front of TV… nothing can distract me from the monotony. But yeah, I should run, it’s good for me they say. Plus summer is here I want to look fit. So in a crazy mood I subscribed myself to participate in a night running event in September.Â
So now at least I have some kind of stimulus to run. Plus there are two conditions that can get me in my running gear:
   -An enthusiastic motivated friend with whom I can chat about anything but running during our run
   -Being somewhere on holiday. Somehow it’s just a little fancier to run when you are on holiday. Plus you discover interesting things, you can do some sight-seeing, i.e. there is distraction!
So last week when sailing along the English East coast I decided to go for one of those well-motivated runs. And guess what, my theory was proven. I took a couple of wrong turns and got lost. Had to fight my way through a huge field of nettles and a muddy river bank. But… I got rewarded! I found a true treasure! I ran into (literally haha) a beautiful field of samphire!
Samphire I love that name, my culinary sapphire!Â
Samphire or salicorne is one of my favourite vegetables; it’s seaweed that grows in marsh fields along the coast. It’s got an interesting salty/briny taste that I absolutely love. You can truly taste the sea. It’s dead easy to prepare. It’s perfect side dish for fish.Â
But never in my wildest dreams did I think I would one day pick my own samphire in a wonderful marsh along the coast. I never thought I would taste the best wild samphire in the world!
We had a wonderful dinner with the samphire and some grilled salmon steaks.Â
Running… not so bad after all… Maybe I should start training for a marathon, who knows what I would run into then! Some white truffles perhaps!?
Samphire or salicorne
Wash the samphire. The larger parts have a hard inner core you can’t eat so discard those.Â
Finely cut a shallot and melt with some butter in a frying pan. Then add the samphire. Let it simmer slowly for another 5 minutes. It won’t change of consistency but should become warm and a little bit glazy so it melts in your mouth.Â
