Baby Spinach or Spinach? Two similar but different vegetables
Don’t be taken in by the name
Spinach and baby spinach are two completely different vegetables as regard to their properties, culture and use in the kitchen.
Read here to find out more!
Spinach or baby leaf spinach.
Which do you prefer?
The similarity of the name leads us to confuse these types of salad, but these are two varieties with very different tastes and characteristics, even if they come from the same family.
Let’s take a closer look.
Cultivation
Lo spinacino cresce in circa 15/20 giorni a seconda delle condizioni atmosferiche. Lo spinacio, invece, viene raccolto 45/60 giorni dopo la semina. Entrambi possono essere provenire da coltivazioni integrate o coltivazioni biologiche.
Lo spinacino è per lo più prodotto in serra, ma entrambe le varietà possono essere coltivate anche in campo aperto.
The leaves
Baby spinach has smaller tender leaves, with an intense green colour, while spinach has larger leaves and a much darker colour.
Il confezionamento
Generally speaking, spinach is sold as a first range salad, i.e. bulk, on fruit and vegetable stalls. Before being consumed, it must be washed and the lower part most in contact with the soil removed.
Baby spinach however is sold more often as a fourth range salad, i.e. in bags or trays, already washed and ready to use, very practical to create fast salads to eat even when out and about.
The taste
Baby spinach has a sweeter taste, while adult spinach is more bitter, for this reason it is often eaten with foods that attenuate its taste.
Nutritional values
Both spinach and baby spinach are rich in iron and folic acid.
Adult spinach is richer in fibre, that’s why its leaves are easier to chew.
In the kitchen
Baby spinach is used to create salads and is almost always consumed raw.
Adult spinach, on the other hand, is used for a wider range of recipes and is often the basic ingredient of first courses, but also side dishes for meat or fish second courses.
It is cooked in salted water or pan-fried with butter, to make the leaves more tender and digestible.
Adult spinach is perfect for creating hot dishes with strong flavours, while baby spinach blends with the sweet taste of fruit to create colourful and tasty summer salads!
Procurement Manager
My goal is to optimise our agricultural production.
Every day I work to improve the business management system and engage the supplier members in the philosophy of continuous improvement.
I support the individual OP Isola Verde enterprises so they make the best use of their production capacities and guarantee quality baby leaf salads to our customers, time and time again.
