Here’s the fourth of my excerpts from my forthcoming comprehensive glossary of ingredients, equipment and culinary terms in Richard II’s Fourme of Cury, c.1390:
dittany dytayn. Evidently referring to what is now more commonly known as dittander, Lepidium latifolium, a perennial herb native to parts of Britain, but which was also cultivated there up to the seventeenth century and used for hot relishes. It suffered a culinary decline by 1650 when horseradish, introduced into Britain before 1500, took its place (see OABIF, Lepidium latifolium and Armoracia rusticana). It is likely the ‘dytawnder’ of the fourteenth-century poetic treatise on gardening by ‘Master John Gardener’ (see Gardener, p. 165, l. 159), and this context points to its cultivation in royal gardens. The spiciness of both its leaves and root are alluded to in its common name, poor man’s pepper; and the use of its leaves in salad has been described by British botanists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (see Sturtevant, p. 332). It appears only once in Fourme of Cury, in the dish ‘Erbolate’ (recipe 170, chapter 1), a kind of herb frittata or omelette. The name dytayn ‘dittany’ in Fourme of Cury reflects the confusion over nomenclature in other medieval sources, particularly in relation to the medicinal plant known as dittany of Crete, Origanum dictamnus (see Hunt, Plant Names of Medieval England, p. 101, Diptannus), which is not native to Britain.
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Image at the top of the page: Lepidium latifolium, aka, dittander and pepperweed. Author: Chrkl via Wikimedia Commons; Licence.
MONK'S MODERN MEDIEVAL CUISINE 
I’ve always liked the word dittany. Have yet to be able to try eating it, though…
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No, not yet. The young leaves have been described as having a creamy horseradish taste. Norfolk Herbs sell it. I’m tempted to get some and make Erbolate, the frittata.
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Shame it is no longer routinely eaten. I’ll have to look into this plant some more as I think it would make a great addition to my herb garden.
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Let me know if you get some. I presume you’re thinking about the British dittander rather than the Cretan “proper” dittany.
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I was a little confused when I did an internet search earlier and came across the Cretan dittany. I’m to look at Plants for a Future for further advice now.
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Here is a source for the plant:
https://www.pennardplants.com/proddetail.php?prod=Ed558
And someone I’ve bought obscure seeds from before:
https://www.foodforest.garden/forest-garden-seeds/
Finally, this is what Plants for a Future say generally on the subject of dittander:
https://pfaf.org/User/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Lepidium+latifolium
I’ve noticed that bay leaves taste peppery, so I’d be interested to see the difference between them and dittander.
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Thank you. It seems like it may be rather quick to spread. I don’t think I’ve got room in my quite small garden.
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I’ve already got lots of spreading things, so it would be dog eat dog!
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🤣
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