An old gypsy song says '"Spring is our mother/Nettle pop out on the mountain side" showing the joy of those poor people who finally have something free to put on their table. But the nettle aren't just a free food, but also a source of vitamins, for human body's regeneration, after the long winter.

For many years I hated nettle, but I began to appreciate them in the last few years. Maybe because my body needs now some special vitamins that only nettle have. It takes only a few spoonfuls of nettle puree and the next day I already feel better.

Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) grows in the woods, wastelands, ditches, on the side of the country roads. I commend those who harvest nettle because it isn't an easy job. Nettle have some very small stinging hairs, like very small thorns. When you are trying to pick up a stinging nettle, whether it's only the leaves or the whole plant, by the stalk, the very sharp hairs will sting your skin and their tips remain inside the skin, "shooting" you with some very poisonous substances the nettle contain, such as acetylcholine, histamine, serotonin, moroidin, leukotrienes and formic acid. All of these cause a painful stinging sensation, from which the plant has its name. This isn't just a simple stinging sensation, but something called paresthesia, which means you feel your skin like tickling, tingling, pricking and burning^[1] - and it's as bad as it sounds!

I had the bad luck to feel this terrible sensation on my hands when I picked up a few nettle from the side of the road, near the forest, just to make a soup. I had never picked up nettle before, with my own hands. But I knew they sting, that's why I used rubber gloves when handling nettle in the past. But those were already harvested and had probably lost many of their thorns, yet I knew I had to use gloves. However, this one particular time, when I saw the nettle growing on the side of the road and I was so excited at the thought of picking them up myself, that I totally forgot about what they really were, STINGING nettles!!!!! I should have remembered, at least, about Eliza (from Andersen's tale "The Wild Swans") who had to knit nettle shirts for her brothers, thus getting her hands all stung. Well, I didn't think, so I kept on picking up nettle, even after I felt a prickly sensation in my hands - what was I thinking? By the time I finished picking up what turned out to be a hand or two of nettle leaves, my hands were hurting, burning, pricking, tingling and all other bad symptoms I told you about above. It was serious because I couldn't keep anything in my hands, yet I had to drive back home. Once I arrived home, my hands were red, burning and had blisters all over. I felt like I had thousands of needles in my hands! I tried every treatment I could find on internet and from my friends, including the family doctor: lemon juice, calendula ointment, sodium bicarbonate, adhesive tape (which I stuck on my hands to get the hairs out) and anti allergy pills. I don't know which worked best--maybe each had its part--but I started to feel better the next day. It as only a day, but what a terrible night I spent! I felt better in the morning, yet every time I washed my hands, the "needles" were there.

Disregarding the pain caused by my stupidity, I made a delicious soup with those nettle and some fig buttercup leaves I picked up from my garden. The poisonous substances evaporate during cooking, so there is no danger of poisoning. I just added 2 tablespoons of rice, salt and a chopped onion, boiled all together, then added 'borsh' and chopped lovage. I'm more than amazed of how much I like nettle now! I've always thought they were awful, yet look what I've been going through, just for picking up a few!

Soup might be good, yet there is another nettle meal, even more delicious, which also gives me all the vitamins I need. It's a nettle puree. For this recipe I need two more spring greens, the ramsons and the patience dock, which bring more flavor to this dish. Ramsons (Allium ursinum) are related to garlic, only its leaves are wider, similar to Lily of the Valley leaves. I only know ramsons from the market, but I know they are growing in the forest. Some forests are full with ramsons in the spring and people come especially to pick up ramsons, for their special properties. Some are eating them right there, in the forest. Same as garlic, ramsons have to be eaten raw, to preserve their properties.

Patience dock leaves are a bit sour, which makes the nettle puree even more delicious.

Ingredients

- 1 plastic bag full of fresh nettle
- 1 big bunch of ramsons
- 2-3 bunches of patience dock
- 1 onion
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- a 3 quart pot, half full with water

Nettle need to be washed very well, in lots of water, because they have dust or soil inside their hairy leaves. That's why I fill the kitchen sink with water and wash them very well, by shaking them gently inside the water. I take them out and drain the water, then fill the sink again - and so on, until the water is clear. I rip off the leaves from the stalks, which would be unpleasant to taste.

Clean all patience dock and ramsons leaves under tap water, too. It's time to boil the water in the 3 quart pot. When it boils, take a bunch of patience dock leaves and dip them into the boiling water, for 2-3 seconds, holding them by their stalks. Put them aside on a pan and continue with the other bunches. When all the patience dock leaves are scalded, dip all nettle inside the same boiling water and let it boil on low for 10 minutes. Take the nettle out with a perforated spoon, so the eventual dirt would remain at the bottom of the pot. If you don't drain the leaves through a sieve, the dirt could remain through the leaves.

Chop the onions and steam them in a pan, with a spoonful of vegetable oil, for 10 minutes. Blend the nettle and patience dock leaves and pour them over the onions. Add half a cup of nettle soup (the water in which they were boiled), the tomato paste and salt to taste. Add flour mixed with 2-3 spoons of cold water into the puree. Bring to boil, then let it cook for 5 minutes at low fire. Wash the ramsons and blend or chop them finely. Add the ramsons to the puree, but only after the fire is off. Serve with fried eggs and polenta.

[1] - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urtica_dioica