”One of the softest wild leaves you’ll find around the Mediterranean coast. Velvety, silver-green and almost suspiciously perfect as nature’s toilet paper sometimes called “Dunny Paper”.
GeorgeFlavour Fred
Tree Mallow isn’t native to Britain but is often grown ornamentally for its pale hibiscus-like flowers and drought tolerance. Crush the foliage and you’ll notice the felted texture immediately — the dense hairs helping the plant reduce water loss in salty coastal winds. Conveniently, they also make the leaves remarkably gentle on the backside.
Like many members of the mallow family, the plant contains mucilage — that slippery, soothing substance also found in Marshmallow and Common Mallow. Historically these plants were valued for calming irritation internally and externally. The young leaves and flowers are edible too. Mild, slightly earthy and thickening when cooked, they’ve traditionally been added to soups, stews and rustic peasant dishes around parts of the Mediterranean. The mucilage gives broths a subtle silkiness not unlike okra (which is also in the Malva family). I have used to make Molokhia, Hubeza, Shakahuka, Dolma and many others in the past. Also is you fry the leaves in a pan they go really crunchy which I’ll make into a video soon enough. A plant balancing somewhere between ornamental shrub, emergency toilet roll and a tasty ingredient. I obviously do use toilet paper not so much Andrex but more often @whogivesacraptp
