Kitchen Garden Forum

We have just picked our first ramsons (wild garlic) this morning and beautiful it smells and looks too. Looking forward to eating it tomorrow. The nettles are shooting up and looking ready for nettle soup next week. The blackthorn is just showing white with a promise of sloes later in the year, and of course the brambles are opening their buds.

What wild foods do you collect? What are your favourite recipes for them? It would be good to share our experiences.

Alan

I'm not very good of taking advantage of the wild harvest though living in the sticks I should make more effort I pick Sloes and Damsons for gin and also the damsons for Jam, blackberries for pies and Jam , Field mushrooms and chanterelles not too good on other funghi but these 2 are easy to recongnise also sometimes pick Rowan berries for the chooks oh and of course Hazel nuts

Only Blackberries now, used to pick Elderberry flower for wine at one time.
Bren

We have various walnut trees growing wild around here which are always worth a visit in the autumn and the wild blackberries always seem to have a better flavour than our domestic carieties. We used to pick lots of elderberries when we made wine and also sloes for sloe gin. Now I occasionally throw in a few when I make hedgerow jam. Have never tried nettle soup. Wouldn't mind trying a home tested recipe if somebody has one as those people I've have read about trying it have always complained it was pretty dreary. Just wish we had some wild damsons around here. They make wonderful jam.

Primrose

Only say and it shall be done
Here's our tried and often tested recipe:

Nettle Soup
25 g butter
1 medium onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves crushed
400 g potatoes peeled and finely chopped
450 g freshly picked nettle tops (about a supermarket plastic bag full
1 litre vegetable or chicken or ham stock
150 ml double cream
Grated nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

serves 4-6

Melt butter and cook onion and garlic gently for 10 mins in a covered saucepan, without browning. Add potatoes and nettles and cook for 2 minutes. Add stock, cover, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Cool a little then puree in a liquidiser. Return to pan, stir in cream and season to taste. Reheat gently and serve.

We reckon this is the taste of spring and a great revitaliser after the dark days.

Make and enjoy.

Alan

p.s. we in Wales call nettles danadl or (a better warning) dail poethion- hot leaves. You will know to wear gloves when picking and washing them

I'll copy this to Recipes section

Thank you Alan. Always like to try something new although no doubt I'll get some strange glances from the locals if they spot me picking nettles.
Reminds me of one day years ago when we were visiting my retired parents down in Sussex and walking on the Downs. My mother whipped out some large plastic bags from her pocket, started picking up dried cow pats and shoved them into the bags, explaining she wanted some manure for her small vegetable patch and this was the easiest way of getting it. So I started helping her. Our menfolk, embarrased, walked away and pretended they weren't with us but some hikers went up to my father and said "Do you know what those women are collecting". "Mushrooms I expect" replied my father with a straight face.. "That's funny" I heard the hikers say, "They must know where to look because I haven't spotted any".
I never can pass a dried cow pat these days without thinking of my mother. I must get my eccentricity from her !

... for more ideas do visit Fergus the Forager's brilliant site

http://www.wildmanwildfood.co.uk/index.html

We'll be trying his nettle and wild garlic soup very soon.

Happy hunting

Alan

We tried it yesterday - delicious

As well as the usual blackberry and sloe harvest, I use Rowan berries to make jelly. Delicious with pate or with turkey and chicken, as an alternative to cranbery jelly.

I made Rowan berry and rosemary jelly a couple of years ago and it was delicious. Great with sunday roast.

I pick Purslane(Portulaca oleracea). Lovely pan fried in garlic and tossed with pasta. I haven't got a picture but there is one on this site http://www.econetwork.net/~wildmansteve ... slane.html
or the wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portulaca_oleracea
Excellent stuff and very healthy.

I also pick wild angelica (suspect its is domestic gone wild) flavours soups & stews or shred leaves in salad (small quantities for my taste). Wild mint (all year) to make strawberry soup, violet flowers (March)for salads.

I'd love to pick mushrooms but I haven't got a clue. I picked a pile of different mushrooms and took them to an expert in the village in Italy and they were all bar 1 poisonous - scary stuff