Mes amis, we have skipped over Tulip Day and are celebrating chard on this, 6 Germinal. Turns out there is nothing particularly Swiss about swiss chard. According to Wikipedia, chard is not native to Switzerland and is not particularly cultivated there. Their guess is it became Swiss after being described by a Swiss botanist. Elsewhere on the internet, different theories are posited. One I liked best made an analogy to the etymology of Jerusalem Artichoke:

In English it is also known under these names: chard, white beet, strawberry spinach, seakale beet, leaf beet, Sicilian beet, spinach beet, Chilian beet, Roman kale, and silverbeet. Originally, chard was a corruption of the French word for cardoon, carde, and the name was Swiss cardoon, a misnomer that William Woys Weaver, author of Heirloom Vegetable Gardening, likens to another famous misnomer, “Jerusalem artichoke.”

Cardoons are a thistle-like plant and apparently chard was at one point thought to be derived from it, so they named it “Swiss Cardoon.” At any rate, I’m adapting a Bon Apetit recipe that incorporates garlicy breadcrumbs and mint with bucatini and chard.

Bucatini and Chard  

4 garlic cloves, sliced thinly

1/3 cup panko

12 oz bucatini

5 anchovy fillets

1 green chile

1 bunch of chard, stems removed and leaves sliced

3 tbs butter

1/2 cup of chopped mint

2 tsp lemon zest

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Grated Pecorino

Set a pot of water to boil for the pasta. While it heats, in a different pan, heat 2 tbs of olive oil in a skillet and add garlic. Cook the garlic for about 2 minutes and remove the garlic with a slotted spoon. Add the panko and cook until golden brown and add salt and pepper. Remove from heat and add to the reserved garlic.

In a separate pan, heat 3 tbs of olive oil. Add the anchovies and cook for about 4 minutes, all the while smushing the anchovies until they are very small. Add the chile, chard and cook for a minute or two. Add the butter, pasta and 1/2 cup of pasta water to the chard mixture and cook for a few minutes until the pasta water has cooked off. Remove from heat and add the mint, lemon zest and lemon juice. Add the garlicky breadcrumbs and grated Pecorino and enjoy!