We inadvertently trample it in our gardens or forests, yet this plant is worth a fortune!

Once spring comes, wild hops grow almost everywhere in French gardens and forests without anyone paying particular attention to their presence. However, these first flowers sell at a high price, around €1000 per kilo.

Commonly called “jets”, young hop shoots are very popular with connoisseurs and great restaurants. Once collected, they are prepared like asparagus, sometimes just cooked in salted water, sometimes accompanied by white wine sauce. Hop streams can also be fried and served with white butter. According to lovers of good cuisine, it is a real delight. Finally, what gourmets particularly appreciate about this plant is above all its finesse, but also its slight bitter taste which is reminiscent of nuts and other dried fruits.

Hop jets are so popular today that they are considered a luxury product, in the same way as caviar or truffles, they are also nicknamed in Belgium the truffles of the North.

What gives hop sprays their great market value is that only 3 cm of their stems are edible. You therefore need a large quantity to be satisfied. Another explanation: it is a plant that is still little known and therefore little produced. There are only a handful of specialist producers in the world.

After all this, you will definitely think twice before removing all the weeds from your garden without checking which varieties they actually are.