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Mao Zhou's avatar

And to think—I fancied myself quite the connoisseur of herbal lore. Yet here is spinach, humbly reclining on the plate, concealing a talent for thwarting scorpions and spiders alike.

How delightfully dramatic! One almost wishes to be bitten, just to see it in action.

Thank you, once again, for such an enchanting experience!

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meD's avatar
Mar 31Edited

Fascinating! Almonds and spinach- who knew? (Well, the French obviously knew.) The recipe looks slightly complicated to me - likely it is not to most who bake regularly- but I might try it when I get ambitious.

But what an amazing history. I didn’t realize spinach had medicinal qualities (and I thought I knew that of most herbs/vegetables). “Its juice is used against scorpion and spider bites, either drunk or applied externally.” Hopefully I won’t have to try this.

Thanks for another delightful culinary trip through history!

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Ruth Stroud's avatar

Just mind-boggling to consider a sweet spinach pie! Who knew? You did, of course! Thanks for the historic deep dive and the recipe. I’ve had a number of delicious savory spinach dishes—quiches and spanakopita—but nothing like this. It sounds like a fun and delicious project.

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Deborah Teramis Christian's avatar

Jamie! Followed your link to this from Bsky, and I'm really glad I did. *Love* your writing style--great combo of subject matter deep-dive, and entertaining presentation, and wow, this dish looks really fascinating! I have to make one and give it a try. Thanks for creating a delightful Substack. Am adding you to my must-read list. :)

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Allison Marsh's avatar

Beautiful! As a keen lover of spinach I am humbled to find out so much more about it. Gorgeous recipe.

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James Bonacci's avatar

It looks really good and I do not even like spinach!. Also, thanks for the very interesting history lesson/background.

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Mary Beth Brown's avatar

I will have to try this recipe one day soon! But I'm now craving Herb Pie, and since I have a bag of baby spinach, I'll get some more greens and a bunch of parsley tomorrow, cheat and top with phyllo. Et voila!

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N. Duffey's avatar

Sweet spinach! What a great idea, and how surprising to find out how long it's been around. I still wish I'd paid more attention to a sweet soufflé I had in Paris when I was nineteen, at the home of a friend of a friend. Served as dessert, it had onions and bell peppers and tomatoes. i've never forgotten it but have never attempted replicating it, afraid of what a mess I might create. This, though, a sweet spinach pie recipe? Much easier. Thank you.

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