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Posted Monday, 20 February 2012  /  Written by The Twig

Spinach is one of the first leafy greens to make an appearance after winter. It's abundant and versitile and should definitely be near the top of your vegetable list at this time of year while we wait, with bated breath, for Spring to show its face.

The theory is that our English word Spinach derives from the Catalan word "espinac". And that certainly makes sense, given that it was the Spanish who first introduced it to us. In the 14th century it gained quick popularity because of its availability in Spring and the fact that it provided a good source of vitamins, especially during Lent when many other foods were off limits. In the 1500s, Catherine, the queen of France loved Spinach so much that she insisted on eating it with every meal! Having been born in Florence, this gave the name "Florentine" to many of the dishes we love that use spinach.

As every child knows, spinach is a great source of iron. Unfortunately, it's not really true. There art two major problems: First, German scientist Emil von Wolf got his sums wrong. By putting a decimal point in the wrong place he over estimated the iron content by a factor of 10! The faulty measurement apparently was not spotted for many years, by which time the myth was already widely spread. Secondly, more recent studies have shown that, while there definitely is some iron in its leaves, spinach also contains other substances which prevent the body from absorbing it.

OK, so maybe the health benefits aren't everything we originally thought they were. But there's still plenty of good stuff in spinach...and of course it tastes great. Why not take this simple recipe, forget any notions of looking like Popeye and enjoy an early Spring treat.

Creamed spinach

400g fresh spinach
25g butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp plain white flour
200ml milk
100ml single cream
fresh nutmeg

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the onion and gently fry for 5 minutes until soft and translucent. Stir in the flour and cook for two minutes, then slowly start to whisk in the milk to create a roux. Keep whisking to avoid lumps. When all the milk has been added, simmer the roux for 5 minutes until it has thickened. Place the spinach in a colander and pour a kettle of boiling water over it to wilt it. Leave to cool then pick it up and squeeze off any excess liquid. Then roughly chop and stir into the sauce. Add the cream and heat through. To serve finely grate some of the nutmeg and season well with salt and pepper.

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