Butterfly Vegetables
Butterfly vegetables is a common side dish in the Teardrop Sea Islands, made with a mix of different vegetables. The recipe varies from household to household, with some ingredients being more typically associated with one class, species or culture than another; however, the most basic recipe almost always includes lakeweed mushroom (or a similar variety), saltflower, onions, sweet peppers and carrots.
The vegetables are sauteed until lightly caramelised, with honeyspice and traditional salt blend added. Fresh herbs to taste are usually stirred in once taken off the heat. Sometimes it's served with almonds sprinkled over the top.
History
The exact origins of the dish are lost to history, but it's usually said to have been invented by a mother desperate to get her fussy child to eat vegetables. It's the first known recipe to include saltflowers, which resemble butterflies when cooked, giving the dish its name. The popularity is said to have boomed when a peasant servant cooked it for a King, who then introduced the dish to other nobility.
The original recipe, which predates the traditional salt blend (wild garlic, dried seaweed, orange peppercorns, lavender), originally contained just salt, garlic and honeyspice. At the time lavender was an incredibly expensive commodity due to the difficulty distinguishing the benign variety from poison lavender, and orange peppercorns had yet to reach widespread popularity. Once the salt blend became popularised, though, it didn't take long for it to become a core ingredient in butterfly vegetables.
The dish has since become a staple of most households, from the poorest to the noblest. The basic ingredients are core components of any kitchen, and most people eat it as part of at least two or three meals a week.
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