Wild Salads: Foraging for Spring hedgerow greens.

 

When looking through any wild food ID book, it comes as no surprise that the majority of wild greens are ‘good in salads’ something you will be all to familiar with if you have thumbed through Ray Ray’s big fat tome on the subject. So it only seems right to construct a salad from the spring greens that are cropping up as the first signs of spring, many of which will be available in some form or other throughout most of the long overdue 

summer (couldn’t be happier to see the arse-end of winter, its pants).

 

 

There was a time when eating salad was strictly for the female of the species, for a male to order a salad, nay to be even seen suckling on a leaf, ridicule would often follow. Quite why such machismo was thrust onto carrot-crunching I don’t know, but thankfully gent’s obsessions with gyms and protein powders have gradually earned a thumbs up for the green stuff.

The origins of the salad and exactly what would define one are hazy, as I understand from scrolling through inches of inane internet babble such as this, a salad is only defined as a salad when it is dressed, otherwise it is simply a plate of raw greenery or ‘rabbit food’. 

 

 

 

It came as no surprise that it was the Greeks and Romans that were the pioneers of salad. The basis for the word ‘salad’ is ‘sal’, meaning salt. Salt was, and still is, a key ingredient in the dressing of the leaves:

 

"Salad, a term derived from the Latin sal (salt), which yielded the form salata, 'salted things' such as the raw vegetables eaen in classical times with a dressing of oil, vinegar or salt. The word turns up in Old French as salade and then in late 14th century English as salad or sallet.They always used a dressing of some sort: oil, vinegar, and often brine. And hence the name salad, which comes from Vulgar Latin Herba salata, literally 'salted herb'." 
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford Univeristy Press:Oxford] 2nd edition, 2006 (p. 682).

 

It would be madness to assume the Romans were the first to collect a variety of greens, put them altogether and enjoy, certainly this was a practice that was used during the Mesolithic, but the Romans refined it…and, most crucially- recorded it. Many of the herbs and leaves we use today are cultivars of the hedgerow greens that we still see today, except they have been cultivated to the point that their flavour- what made them so desirable in the first place, has all but vanished. Come to think of it there are only two salad varieties on offer in grocers, markets and mupersarkets that retain their original character: Rocket and watercress…and both are peppery. Not much of a choice is it?

With most prepared salads in a bag costing around £1.79 a pop down the supermarket aisle, most of which taste the same (apart from the ‘separate’ bags of rocket or watercress), foraging for a bit of variety can take the humble salad to a whole new level. So which are best for an interesting flavour combination and how do you go about selecting the perfect salad from the wild?

 

Firstly, you have two criteria to fill: Flavour and bulk.

Your essential flavourings (and it pays to bear in mind the five points of taste- bitter, salty, sour, sweet and umami,- some will come from your dressing)  will be found in some of the more charismatic greens, ‘herby’ if you like, these are:

 

 

Flavour:

 

• Common Sorrel and wood sorrel (lemon\citrus)

• Wild Garlic/Ramsons (intense Garlic)

• Jack-by –the-hedge/Hedge Garlic (soft garlic)

• Dandelion leaves (bitter notes- think chicory)

• Hairy Bittercress (Peppery)

• Ladies smock (OTT peppery- edible for insane persons only)

• Primrose flowers (sweetness)

• Chickweed (sweetness- similar to sweetcorn)

• Ox-eye daisy leaves (aromatic- think fennel/ liquorice)

• Ground ivy (herbaceous- slightly aromatic)

• Alexanders (Aromatic)

 

Bulk:

 

These are generally the plainer hedgerow options, perfect for beefing up and adding volume. Try to go for whatever grows in profusion. There are so many more than listed- but here are a few of my favourites.

 

 

 

 

• Lesser Celandine leaves

• Chickweed (not just a flavouring- very common)

• Yarrow

• Goosegrass or cleavers

• Red dead nettle

• Burnt stinging nettle (interesting combo- burn in naked flame to remove stingers- think roast!)

• Navelwort

• Hawthorn leaves (spring)

• Beech Leaves (spring)

• Comfrey

• Ground elder

• Brooklime

• Golden leaved Saxifrage

Vinaigrette is really what makes a salad a salad in the traditional sense. Without dressings, being a vegetarian would be a much harder occupation than it is. In most cases a simple vinaigrette is called for to really let flavour of the leaves shine through, a good guide is to go for a balance of 3:1 on oil: vinegar.

Basic vinaigrette mix:

 

•  

  1 TBS cider vinegar

• 3 TBS  olive oil

• ¼ tsp salt

• ¼ tsp pepper

Now is the perfect time to be out getting out and about- Urban environments are just as productive as rural ones, so don’t be shy! Wild spring greens are traditionally the first salads of the year and, above all, they fill that uncomfortable gap whilst waiting for the first arrivals from the patch, greenhouse or poly tunnel.

Other Stuff- Hunter:Gather:Cook School is hotting up, I have the construction weekend coming up in 2 weeks to get everything set before nipping off to France for spring break and some time with my lady.

 

April/May course dates are available- click here to have a look and email me for any enquiries.

 

My latest post for the Guardian ‘word of mouth’ Blog went up over the weekend on the sustainability of foraging- to have a read and have your say click here.

 

Recently moved house near the rather wonderfully rustic village of Barcombe in East Sussex, looks freakishly like River cottage with crazy yew topiary and...lots and lots of very annoying crows, anyone got any good recipes for the buggers?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[skybluepinkish]

That looks wonderful, but please tell me you don't have all those greens in Sussex already ... I was wondering if the daffodils might be out in the next couple of weeks!

[The Curious Cat]

Is yarrow okay? Looks like it could be ticklish on the tongue!! Interesting stuff though...what combinations do you like to go with generally? xxx

[Nick Weston]

Yarrow is good as long as you pick the younger leaves. I always try to stick in sorrel, jack by the hedge or wild garlic and then bittercress and add some young dandelion leaves. mmmmmm!

W: www.huntergathercook.com
T: +44 (0) 7921 863768
E: nickweston@hotmail.com
TW:www.twitter.com/manupatree

Hunter.Forager.Writer.Cook.

To: nickweston@hotmail.com

[Nick Weston]

Sussex is on fire at the mo! wood anenomes out in force...

W: www.huntergathercook.com
T: +44 (0) 7921 863768
E: nickweston@hotmail.com
TW:www.twitter.com/manupatree

Hunter.Forager.Writer.Cook.

To: nickweston@hotmail.com

[get rid of cellulite]

I love salads! Do you have some recipes of this? I'm looking forward for more recipes to be posted on your blog.