[Sca-cooks] Lovage and Rue

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Lovage

Many of the Roman recipes i'm looking at call for lovage as a green
herb. While i may be able to turn up lovage seeds, i doubt i'll be
able to find it fresh.

It has been suggested that modern cooks substitute celery leaves for
lovage leaves. Does anyone have experience using actual fresh lovage?
And if yes, can you verify this substitution?

Rue

Many of the Roman recipe i'm looking at call for rue as a green herb.
I doubt i can find any. But if i do, i am concerned about the
possibilities of contact dermatitis, which rue can cause.

Has anyone used fresh rue leaves? Can you possible describe the
taste? Suggest a substitute?

Thanks
Anahita