I’m a sucker for a seed catalog, so when Franchi Sementi began offering seeds for an Italian annual called “Sculpit” or “Stridolo” I bit the bait. The plant, Silene inflata, is super easy to grow and, according to one seed source it’s a ” rare annual bushy plant with thin delicate, slightly aromatic leaves. Leaves are eaten raw in salads or cooked in risotto and soups, even as a flavouring for omelettes, quiches and stuffing.
So Italian that there is even an annual Stridolo Fair.” So Italian that most Italians I know have never heard of it. Including my entire family both here and in Italy.
I must say, I can picture it growing along Italian roadsides and in the rocky fields so common in Abruzzo and Molise. It’s an beneficial insect attractor, and I had it interplanted with my peas this year. I noticed masses of bees raiding the blooms, and the inflated calyxes puffed and nodding in the wind. The leaves are okay in a salad or a frittata, but nothing special. It seems more like a foragers kind of food. That said, it looked great interplanted with my pea vines. And, it made a nice texture/color/flavor addition to my salad mix.
I’m going to leave it in for the season. There’s something about seeing the olive shaped leaves and comic balloons decorated with simple white petals that is almost appealling enough to warant a full-on “sagra di stridolo” in my corner of the world.
Gardens with Benefits 
I more than suspect that your in-depth quote comes from the seed source being the website http://www.originaltouch.co.uk
http://www.originaltouch.co.uk
Original Touch
Original Touch does sell the wonderful Stridolo seeds amongst its vast range and would have been pleased to have offered you some to try!
For your information, here is an Italian website about the Stridolo Fair: So Italian that at least some Italians do know about it, they also like to write about it, or is it an excuse for a party?!!
http://www.comune.santa-sofia.fo.it/index.php?option=com_events&task=view_detail&agid=96&year=2008&month=4&day=27&Itemid=89
SAGRA DELLO STRIDOLO
Domenica 27 aprile si terrà la consueta Sagra dello Stridolo, manifestazione gastronomica dedicata alla valorizzazione delle pianta erbacea utilizzata per condire primi piatti, secondi, contorni ed insalate.
Lo stridolo (silene vulgaris) è una pianta che si raccoglie ai margini delle coltivazioni, dei boschi e nei pascoli di montagna incolti e deve il suo nome volgare al suono che producono le foglie se vengono accostate alle labbra.
La sagra di Galeata prevede vari eventi: degustazioni, mercato nelle vie del centro storico, possibilità di visite guidate al Museo civico Mambrini (bus-navetta con partenza da Galeata per Pianetto), mostra di auto d’epoca, mostra di bonsai.
actually, I have never seen the English website you mentioned, grownew. It’s the wording in the Franchi Sementi catalog which I “more than suspect” they quoted.
The announcement for the Stridolo fair touts it as a forage plant – among so many plants foraged in Italy.
Update: although it’s sold as an annual, it’s clearly a hardy perennial here in Mediterranean-climate California. It’s back and it’s big. It’s seems to be having its own party with or without me.
Salute!