“Leustean” is a herb quite common in Romania and many other countries. My friends are telling me its English name is “lovage”, but I still think “leustean” sounds much better. Anyway…
Georgi’s been pestering me about this herb for a while. Apparently a soup is not a real soup without a touch of “leustean”. It is the magic, essential, secret ingredient!
Since we didn’t know one could buy this herb here in England, last summer when we visited our friends in Timisoara, we asked for some “leustean” leaves. They gave us a whole plant, with roots and everything. They wrapped it in a plastic bag with a lot of mud and then they placed it nicely in my luggage among my shirts. We were given 24 hours to transport the plant here to England. We planted it in our garden and luckily it survived. However we soon found out that what we did was illegal. You can’t bring plants just like that across the border, not even "leustean". We didn’t get caught, though, otherwise who knows? Today I’d be cooking garlic soup with "leustean" for my inmates.
Our landlord became a bit worried, though:
- “Is it an invasive plant?” he asked.
- “Well, it tends to spread quite a bit, but don’t worry, I also brought a bug to keep its growth under control, so our garden should be just fine”.
He didn’t get my joke and he looked very worried at our lawn.
The plant survived the first few weeks, and even produced new leaves. It didn’t have time to grow much, as Georgi’s been using it with pretty much anything she cooks:
- “I know what goes well with this stew. Some leustean!”
And if I make myself a sandwich and I look somewhere else for a second, these green leaves miraculously appear right next to my cheese.
I wonder if there is a “leustean fun club”? I meet people every day who would join in to celebrate this fine herb.
Only the other day, I was talking to two of my friends who live in Tokyo. I’m going to visit Japan in a few weeks time and I asked them whether they need anything from Europe.
- “Yes, some leustean would be nice!”
- !?!??
