Weird But True Rapunzel Facts

Rapunzel Lettuce is the German translation for Lamb's Lettuce, Lambs-quarter, Field Salad or Maché, a small, sweet and luscious leafy green that grows well in the Fall and Winter and can survive frost and snow.

• The Rapunzel backstory in Koori volumes 8 and 9 is based on the German fairy tale "Rapunzel" (obviously).
• It follows the fairy tale pretty closely, up to a point -- more closely than I remembered. Check out this version of the traditional tale.
• This version of the fairy tale is brought to you by the Rapunzel organic produce company in Bavaria. This is from their mission statement. I couldn't make this stuff up.

  Joseph, Hans-Peter, and Jennifer, the founders of Rapunzel, named their organic food company after the Rapunzel fairy tale, as they believed that everyone deserves fresh , healthy, and delicious organic food without having to make great sacrifices such as stealing into a forbidden garden and losing one's child !

• Read useful culinary facts about lamb's lettuce.

And here I thought a "rapunzel" was some sort of delicious berry... but no, it's green lettuce. Then again, if you've ever lived through a Northern European winter, you might be able to understand why the pregnant wife in the story was so desperate for that lovely lettuce in the witch's garden. (I once, while living in England, found myself actually drooling over zucchini in a farmer's market. That was when I started taking vitamins.)

• Proving that Sugiura is a goddess, she already knew all this. The Japanese phrase glossed "Rapunzel" at the beginning of her version of the Rapunzel fairy tale is ちしゃの実, "chisha no mi" or "chisha fruit/produce ". 萵苣 (chisha) means "lettuce"... and チシャ (written in katakana) is listed in the Kenkyusha Online Dictionary as "lamb's lettuce." Where does she learn these things?