Agretti- has anyone grown or eaten it?

So I just bought some agretti seeds (as a part of compulsive seed buying in March )

Has anyone grown or eaten it? We lived in Italy for years so I know the plant (Barba di frate) but have never tried it.

@Aldo ?

Thanks!

 

I am afraid I have not !
How interesting though..

Being from an island, I am familiar with the plant I think.
It tends and grow on the coast and (I just discovered on wikipedia) it seems to enjoy high salinity in the soil.
But honestly I do not think I ever tasted it.
I understand that, where I am from, is mostly used to make artisanal soap, but I see it can be cooked in a pan with bacon and onions.

 

Thanks @Aldo

I'll give it a try if the seeds germinate (apparently they are difficult). If the crops taste horrible, well, soap making sounds an interesting skill to learn

We have a similar salty native plant in Nordics where I'm from, we used to eat the leaves when we were kids. We called it salted fish leaves, no idea what it might actually be.

 

Sorry for the late answer!

Let me know how it works out, I am actually curious.
I am visiting Italy over the next weeks, so I might even pick a few wild plants up and see how they fare here in the UK.
Interestingly, years ago my wife managed to transplant to our garden some cuttlings from costal plants. Which was quite impressive, given they tipically thrive on rocks and tiny patches bordering the beach, with seemingly no soil at all and temperatures up to 40C.
I guess that is what they call pioneer plants. Still, they did well in the garden (but she brings them indoor in winter).

I wonder if watering in some epsom salts might help with the agretti. High salinity might be a contributing factor, if not necessarily for them to grow, perhaps to the taste?