Feb

Goat’s Rue (European) vegan rennet

Posted by frann under Not so common herbs

goatsrue Goats Rue (European) vegan rennet The Goat’s Rue to which this post refers is the plant called goat’s rue in Europe, Galega officinalis, not the one often called goat’s rue in America (actually the Virginian goat’s rue), Tephrosia virginiana, which has totally different properties. I will cover Virginian goat’s rue in my next post.

The European goat’s rue has many other names, including French Lilac, Holy Hay, Italian fitch and Professor-weed. It’s not related to lilac or Virginian goat’s rue. It also has an identity problem with its latin names: you may find it labeled Galega bicolor, G. persica or G. tricolor as well as the correct name, Galega officinalis.

There seems to be some confusion online as to which plant is which, so it’s not impossible that when you go to purchase the Virginian type, you will end up with the European one. However, telling these plants apart should not be very difficult, even when they are small. The Virginian type has hairy stems and pods and sweet-pea-like flowers with a cream-colored wing and shocking pink central portion, and the European one is not hairy and has cream to pale pink flowers arranged like a lilac (although the individual flowers are much bigger than a lilac, and a different shape). The goat’s rue native to Europe reaches a height of about 4 feet (1.2m), and the Virginian goat’s rue is only 2 feet (60cm) tall.

In the kitchen, Galega officinalis can be used to curdle milk, including plant milk, making it a rennet substitute suitable for vegetarians, vegans and anyone who has an intolerance of or allergy to dairy products, lactose or casein.

Medicinally, European goat’s rue is mainly used to increase milk flow, both in nursing humans and in dairy cattle. It is also one of the herbs which can be used to lower blood sugar levels. It is an appetite stimulant and digestive tonic which promotes production of the various digestive juices, and is extremely useful for treating chronic constipation. A standard infusion, made using 1 teaspoonful of dried leaves (2 of fresh) to 250ml (1 US cup, 8 fl oz) and steeped for 10-15 minutes, can be used to treat any of these at a dosage of 85ml (one third of a cup) up to 3 times a day.

You probably won’t be surprised when I say that, in common with all plants grown for medicinal purposes, goat’s rue should be grown organically to avoid its active constituents being corrupted by foreign chemicals. To find out more about growing organic goat’s rue visit the Gardenzone.

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