HUNTER-GATHERING: wild & fresh food

British Bush Tea

 

We are a nation whose foundations are built on tea, from the pioneers of the empire to the average builder having his hourly cuppa. But not all teas involve a glug of milk, a dollop of sugar or a wedge of lemon. There is more, so much more to tea than Earl Grey and PG Tips. In my youth I always associated herbal teas with the orient and crusty hippies, and rightly so…but I have to give them credit where credit’s due. As the years have been taking their toll (26?) I have found a great deal of comfort in my herbal teas, however arty farty and carrot crunching that may sound…they are great.

 

I have always been partial to peppermint tea, refreshing and I know it’s doing the insides some good. When it comes to the wild larder, there is all the bagged up bliss you can buy in the hippy shops and more. For this little entry to the Blog of destiny I will be concentrating on three of the best; Meadowsweet, Apple mint and Lemon balm.

Pignuts: a childhood favourite revisited.

Whatever happened to the carefree days of kids playing with conkers, munching on different wild foods, playing marbles and climbing trees? It seems these days there more interested in stabbing each other, fighting, looking like Jordan or Jodie marsh and generally abusing anyone around, be it verbally or otherwise. Of course I only speak of a small percentage of the Britain’s under 16’s, but that percentage is growing. I remember when I was a young lad a wayside nibble was something treasured, getting the best conker out of a tree, the enigmatic “cheese cutter” being a excellent find for nailing your opponent’s hopeful thing-on-a-string. At school we used to eat crab apples, sweet chestnuts, blackberries and wild rhubarb (which was actually Japanese knotweed- but we were not to know!) The simple understanding that if you get stung by a stinging nettle, you rub a dock leaf on it to remove the throbbing sting. I bet very few children know that these days.  What is the world coming to honestly!

Elderflower cordial: thirst quencher

Since I was a nipper, I can vaguely recall my mother making this and it was a sure taste that summer was hiding around the corner. She also made it into wine, regrettably I was too young to sample it at the time! It is still a firm favourite and easy to make. The only problem is whether you make little or a lot and in turn with the seasons only available as long as the elderflowers. If you can make enough to last a year- well done! Otherwise you will have to shell out silly prices for the tiny bottles in the supermarkets.

Although the elderflowers have reached their peak there are still some around, so go and get your hands dirty and enjoy the fruits of nature. I was recently informed by Barney, one of the food editors at good food that they are best picked after rain. A quick trip to Battersea park and I had more elderflower heads than I needed, I bet they would taste better from a field deep in the country but urban foragers cant be choosers. The aroma that the dainty little flowers gave off when I stuck my head in the bag was quite something. I must admit now that my cordial did not go as planned due to adding too much sugar and no citric acid. So I had to drink 2 litres in about 4 days! I have amended the recipe so that it should come out absolutely bang on. This recipe is adapted from the River cottage cookbook, it didn’t work for me first time around so after a few adjustments I came up with the one below.

• 40 fresh elderflower heads
• zest of 2 oranges and 2 lemons
• 1kg of golden caster sugar
• 250ml freshly squeezed lemon juice (4-5 lemons)
• citric acid or tartaric acid

Makes 2 wine bottles worth.

Method:

Pick off all the flowers, you don’t have to be too anal about this just remove as much green stalk as possible. Put them in a large bowl with the zest from the oranges and lemons. Cover them in about 2 litres of boiling water, cover and leave to soak for 4 hours or overnight.

Strain the liquid through muslin or like I did, an old pair of tights! Mesure the amount of strained liquid and add 250g of sugar to every 500ml of the liquid. Place in a pan with the lemon juice, if you are using it the citric acid (this acts as a preservative and allows the cordial to keep for up to a year). Heat the mixture slowly and stir till the sugar has all dissolved. Simmer for a further 5-10 minutes, once it is cool strain it again and pour into clean, dry bottles (screw top or cork). You now have your ‘spring in a bottle’ to enjoy at your leisure, just mix as you would any other cordial, best drunk over ice after a hot, sticky commute across the city!

Sorrel: The lemon among greens.

One of the best spring greens you will ever come across and personal favourite of mine. Sorrel is indigenous to Britain and has been used over the centuries. It had a particular place up to the time of Henry VIII; from then on the introduction of French sorrel with its broader leaves slowly discouraged the use of our indigenous species.
In the past it has been viewed as a plant used by the lower classes for flavouring with meat and other foodstuffs. As with most wild foods, which are becoming increasingly fashionable these days as the big name restaurants of London are finally catching on, sorrel is most highly prized for its zesty, lemon tang. This means it can be used in a whole manner ways particularly as a substitute for lemon or lime. Therefore it is not surprising that this little plant has been known in a medicinal sense to cure scurvy as well as being used as a diuretic.
There are two types of sorrel, the one pictured is common sorrel and the other being a much more dainty version known as wood sorrel (picture below) that vaguely resembles a clover. Both taste more or less the same except you have to do a little more gathering if you’re after wood sorrel.

Sorrel is a simple plant to identify. Its leaves are a distinctive shield shape and can be found as early as March in hedgerows and pastures especially in damp, darker areas where the leaves grow larger. From May to August a stem begins to develop and grow up to about two feet, which is topped off with spikes of small red and green flowers. Wood sorrel is equally simple to identify and is often accompanied by a tiny white flower with small pink lines on its petals.

What to do with it? Well, in the past this zesty little plant was used as a sauce for fish, and I would definitely recommend this recipe better known as green sauce. This is my own take on a basic recipe which has been used for centuries. The idea being to let the flavour of the sorrel stand out instead of drowning it with the traditional amount of malt vinegar they used to put in.
- 1 handful of sorrel leaves.
- 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons of white wine
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
- Salt and pepper to taste
This is an incredibly basic sauce and I have found it is spectacular with any fish; personally I like it with mackerel straight off the BBQ. Finely chop your sorrel to begin with and put the wine, vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan. Gently heat until all the sugar has dissolved. I usually transfer the sauce and sorrel into a pestle and mortar and grind it into paste. Add a little salt and pepper to your taste and serve. The result is a fantastic piquant sauce that can be used with, to be quite honest, anything. You can even spread it straight onto bread!

Other culinary delights that this plant offers are never ending. Mix it up with some mayonnaise for a refreshing dip with crudités or stir them up in a pot of new potatoes just before you serve them. They also make a good companion to fried mushrooms. Do take note however that the leaves only take a minute to wilt and to overcook them is a sin, the flavour will dissipate and camouflage sludge will be left behind.
So the next time you happen upon a small patch of sorrel, don’t hesitate to take a little home with you, or at least taste it. Don’t be afraid to be a little creative, I can guarantee you will find a use for it in the kitchen in some way. Enjoy!

Jack-by-the-hedge:herbacious & fresh.

Jack-by-the-hedge. (Hedge garlic, garlic mustard)

We all love garlic. We love it, why we don’t like the smell (especially if someone has eaten it) I will never understand. I have to include jack by the hedge as it is such a great little plant and is found all over the place. It is a great substitute for garlic but I prefer to consider it altogether something different and rather special, as it has such a mild, herbaceous flavour to it. Our ancestors also valued its properties for both medicinal purposes and culinary potential. Early settlers from Europe took it with them to North America and since then, much to their annoyance, it continues to plague the nations gardens and woodlands. The fast food chompers find absolutely no use for it, which is a great shame but inevitably their loss.

Other than wild garlic (Ramsons), this is our other most common form of garlic that grows in the wild. The difference between the two is Ramsons offer up both their leaves and bulbs, the latter being used in much the same way as bulbed garlic, whereas with hedge garlic, only the leaves are worth gathering. The biggest difference is that hedge garlic, when taken into the kitchen, is so much more versatile allowing it to be used in many different ways, as it doesn’t possess the strong flavour and pungent aroma of its wild cousin.

Jack by the hedge is an easy plant to locate, the clue is in its name…hedgerows are your best bet. Once this biennial has colonised an area it spreads like wildfire, so there will be plenty of it. The leaves are deep green in colour and slightly toothed. As you can see in the picture, they have a lovely set of white flowers at the top of the stem, making them simple to identify. They are best found from April to July, sometimes as early as March if there has been a mild winter.

Having used this plant in so many different ways, it’s hard to decide which are my favourite recipes for it, so here are a few of what I would say are the best:

For a good accompliment with lamb take a bunch of hedge garlic leaves and a bunch of mint leaves, chop finely, add some vinegar and sugar, mix it up and serve as a garlic-mint sauce.

For a great little dip for crudités, simply chop up a good handful of leaves and add to some mayonnaise with a couple of drops of Tabasco.

My personal favourite is to use in hedge garlic in a salad to add a hint of garlic. This works best with a few dandelion leaves for bitterness, rocket for a peppery tang, sorrel for a lemony bite and some basic lettuce to add freshness and bulk. Just drizzle with a bit of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Chickweed:The new salad?

Chickweed. (Stellaria media)

Of all the wild greens, this one has long been left out of the kitchen and for no good reason at all. I have no doubt there are some more adventurous souls among us that have taken the time to dig some out and give it a whirl, but for those who have not, you are in for a real treat. After all it is probably only a matter of time before the Heston Blumenthals of this world serve it up as something new at a fiver a pop!

History.
So named because of its appreciation by chickens. This plant has been used throughout history the world over, we have refrences of its use in the 1500’s in John Gerards history of plants. Chickweed is a good sauce of vitamin C, iron and phosphorous and there is even an old wives tale that says chickweed tea is a good cure for obesity. In the past it has been used for medicinal purposes as well as part of the five a day vegetable intake.

Availability.
The good thing about chickweed is that it is so obtainable and many of you are sitting within twenty metres of the stuff right now. It is found in almost all gardens, hedgerows and broken ground, not only that but it is available all year round. It forms thick mats on the ground and never grows over a foot. To pick it you can be selective and cut the most attractive stems or rake up handfuls with your bare hands, the whole plant is edible so the only prep it needs is a good rinse when you get it in the kitchen.

In the kitchen.
Chickweed is best served raw, it has a taste reminiscent of sweet corn, when you try it you will see what I mean. The plant itself has a similar shape and wiry consistency of watercress. It works very well in salads and try to use it to add a different texture to a tuna salad instead of using sweet corn. You can cook it, just put it in a pan with some butter, salt & pepper and a splash of lemon juice. Cook for 2-3 minutes, no more or the taste will disappear. Treat it in much the same way as you would spinach.

My personal preference is to serve it raw with warm melted butter infused with a little salt and pepper, lemon juice, garlic and a dash of white wine vinegar. By doing it like this I find the bitterness of the lemon and the sourness of the vinegar work well with the sweetness of the chickweed. The best way to play with this wild food is to eat some raw and think about its taste and texture, then work out what you think it would work well with.

Three good reasons to eat this are: its good for you, its free and there is plenty of it!