Lándars (Bunias erucago), also called Lándra in the dialect of Pavia, are herbaceous plants whose leaves are divided into about six pairs of side lobes with green or yellow flowers that are shaped like a Greek cross. They belong to the broccoli and cauliflower family.
In spring, lándars grow abundantly in unirrigated, grain-cultivated fields in the area from Bereguardo to southeast of Pavia.
Eating them is tightly linked to the farm culture, trying to make the most use out of what the countryside has to offer. In fact, in times of crisis or in winter, few people could afford to eat many vegetables, and this oriented people towards gathering edible weeds.
Lándar is harvested between the end of winter and goes on for most of spring; they are gathered before the flower blooms, since the leaves are the tenderest for eating in this period.
The few people who gather this plant in the spring try to observe a few tactics to make sure the plants survive: they are not completely uprooted from the ground, but only the parts exposed to air along with the edible parts are harvested.
In the kitchen the uses are many, and lándars are eaten like spinach, though the flavour is stronger, or they can be eaten raw if they are still tender. There is a saying in local dialect that says “ris e lándar, minestra primavera” (rice and lándar, spring soup) highlighting the important link between lándar and rice in farm cuisine.
Even though the plant growing area is rather vast, familiarity with and use of lándar are restricted to the surrounding areas, like the countryside around Pavia where the link is strong and they rally to the product.
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