Leek

? Leek
Plant Info
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsida Order: Asparagales Family: Alliaceae Genus: Allium Species: A. ampeloprasum Subspecies: A. ampeloprasum var. porrum
Trinomial name
Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum (L.) J.Gay

The leek (Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum (L.)) is a vegetable belonging, along with the onion and garlic, to the Alliaceae family. Also in this species are two very different vegetables: the elephant garlic (Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum), grown for its bulbs, and kurrat, which is grown in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East for its leaves. The leek is also sometimes classified as Allium porrum (L.).

Form

Rather than forming a tight bulb like the onion, the leek produces a long cylinder of bundled leaf sheaths which are generally blanched by pushing soil around them (trenching). They are often sold as small seedlings in flats which are started off early in greenhouses, to be planted out as weather permits. Once established in the garden, leeks are hardy; many varieties can be left in the ground during the winter to be harvested as needed.

Cultivars

Leek cultivars can be subdivided in several ways, but the most common types are "summer leeks", intended for harvest in the season when planted, and overwintering leeks, meant to be harvested in the spring of the year following planting. Summer leek types are generally smaller than overwintering types; overwintering types are generally more strongly flavored.

Growing

Leeks are easy to grow from seed and tolerate standing in the field for an extended harvest. Leeks usually reach maturity in the autumn months, and they have few pest or disease problems. Leeks can be bunched and harvested early when they are about the size of a finger or pencil, or they can be thinned and allowed to grow to a much larger mature size. Hilling leeks can produce better specimens.

Cuisine

Leeks for sale.

The edible portions of the Leek are the white onion base and light green stalk. The onion-like layers form around a core. The tender core may be eaten, but as the leek ages the core becomes woody and generally unusable. Leeks are an essential ingredient of cock-a-leekie and of vichyssoise. They can also be used raw in salads, doing especially well when they are the prime ingredient.

Because of their symbolism in Wales (see below), they have come to be used extensively in that country's cuisine. Template:Clr

Other Information

Dried specimens from archaeological sites in ancient Egypt, as well as wall carvings and drawings, led Zohary and Hopf to conclude that the leek was a part of the Egyptian diet "from at least the 2^nd millennium B.C. onwards." They also allude to surviving texts that show it had been also grown in Mesopotamia from the beginning of the 2^nd millennium B.C. The leek was the favorite vegetable of the Emperor Nero, who consumed it most often in soup.

The leek is one of the national emblems of Wales, whose citizens wear it on St. David's Day. According to legend, King Cadwallader ordered his Welsh soldiers to identify themselves by wearing the vegetable on their helmets in an ancient battle against the Saxons that took place in a leek field. This story may have been made up by the English poet Michael Drayton, but it is known that the leek has been a symbol of Wales for a long time; Shakespeare, for example, refers to the custom of wearing a leek as an "ancient tradition" in Henry V. In the play, Henry tells Fluellen that he is wearing a leek "for I am Welsh, you know, good countryman". The 1985 and 1990 British One Pound coins bear the design of a leek in a coronet, representing Wales.

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  Leek flowers

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  Two blooming flower heads

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  Closeup of a blooming flower head

See also

• List of vegetables
• Culture of Wales

External links

• Allium ampeloprasum L. on US National PLANTS Database
• Allium porrum L. on US National PLANTS Database
• Allium ampeloprasum, Porrum on Floridata
• Leek: Plants For a Future database
• Food Museum page
• Nutrition facts