Spinach

Spinach is a leafy dark-green vegetable of the species, Spinacia oleracea, and is a member of the family Amaranthaceae, which includes beets, amaranth, quinoa, and lamb's quarters.

While many relatives of spinach are found (and eaten both wild and cultivated) throughout the world, the specific plant that became domesticated spinach (Spinacia tetranda) is probably native to central Asia, and spread throughout the Middle East and China before landing on European dinner tables sometime in the Middle Ages, courtesy of Islamic invaders. The European reaction to the Islamic invasions, culinarily speaking, reportedly included the pretzel and the croissant, mitigating the sorrow of Europe's children. Spinach has long been popular among those who enjoy spinach, including Catherine de Medici (1519-1589), a Florentine fancier of the vegetable whose enthusiasm for it led to the association of the term 'Florentine' with dishes such as omelettes into which spinach is introduced, sometimes with the best of intentions.

Spinach is often eaten raw in salads, but rarely mixed with other greens, and usually according to a fairly strict recipe of spinach salad which includes bacon and hard-boiled eggs. It is also eaten cooked as a side dish, either alone or creamed, and as an ingredient in many French and Italian dishes, to which it adds an earthy vegetal quality and a subtle sweetness.