Fat Hen

Chenopodium album is a fast-growing annual that usually reaches 30 cm to 1.5 meters, with diamond- or goose-foot-shaped leaves dusted with a white, mealy powder. In late summer it produces dense clusters of small greenish flowers followed by thousands of tiny seeds. The seeds are glossy black or dark brown, lens-shaped and only about 1 to 1.5 mm across, enclosed in a papery husk. Once cleaned they have a nutty, mild flavor similar to quinoa or buckwheat. The plant is common in gardens, fields and waste ground in many climates. The seeds are collected from wild stands or sold in small quantities as foraged or specialty grain.

Fat hen is native to Europe and temperate Asia and has spread widely as a weed to nearly all temperate and subtropical regions of the world. It is one of the most common agricultural weeds and was once a deliberate food source. The name fat hen reflects its former use as poultry feed that fattened chickens, and lamb's quarters is thought to come from Lammas, a harvest festival. Chenopodium comes from Greek words meaning goose and foot, describing the leaf shape, and album is Latin for white.

Archaeological finds show that fat hen seeds were eaten by prehistoric people in Europe. Charred seeds have been found in the stomach of Tollund Man, a preserved Iron Age body from Denmark, along with other wild seeds, as part of his last meal. Seeds also turn up in Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements, indicating that the plant was collected or tolerated as a food crop.

In India, the plant is known as bathua, a winter green cooked into parathas, raita, and dal, and the seed is also eaten in some hill communities. In the Himalaya, related Chenopodium species were grown as grain. Native American peoples also used closely related species of the genus.

In recent centuries fat hen declined as a staple with the arrival of potatoes and improved cereals, though it remained a famine food and a leaf vegetable. Foragers today collect the leaves in spring and summer, and the interest in ancient grains has drawn fresh attention to the seeds, even though the plant is mainly viewed as a weed in agriculture.

The tiny seeds are collected, winnowed, and ground into flour for flatbreads or cooked into porridge, often mixed with other grains. They can be toasted for a nutty taste. The young leaves are cooked like spinach or added to curries, soups and flatbreads. The seeds were also traditionally fed to poultry. Because the seeds are tiny and covered by a husk, they can be rinsed and cooked like quinoa, though the labor is considerable.

Fat hen seeds and leaves supply protein, minerals such as calcium and iron, and vitamins, and the seed is comparable to quinoa in being a pseudocereal. Detailed nutrient data for seeds is limited. The leaves contain oxalates and saponins, so they are best eaten cooked and in moderation. Traditional uses for digestion and as a tonic are not supported by solid clinical evidence, and the plant is best treated as a wild food instead of a medicine.