What do you do with lovage

[Janette]

I have inherited (on a new allotment) a plant that I have identified, by its smell and leaves, as lovage.

Any ideas what to do with lovage as all I can get from gardening books is that it grows up to 8ft tall and you can eat the leaves and stems but not how and with what.

Janette

[Peter]

Elsewhere

Kitchen Garden Forum has a thread on this that is current on and someone there said "I have a large clump of lovage that I grew from seed years ago, it grows to about 7' every year, great flowers that the hoverflies love, and seedheads that all the birds do too. I use the leaves chopped in salads, or in stews, the taste is a bit like a mix between celery and fennel. You can also use the seeds on top of bread like poppy or sesame seeds."

There was also a warning that it is fairly laxative.

I also note that the RHS Plant Finder lists three different Latin names under the common name of Lovage.

[Janette]

Thanks for the tip and also the warning, that explains a lot as I did a fair amount of tasting.