A wonderfully sensual dish combining the exquisite sweetness of Papaya with the pepperiness of Hairy Bittercress and the gentle flavour of mild Dandelion greens. I picked up some out of date Papayas the other day. Out of date in the sense, they were still green and I had to ripen …
White Dead Nettle (Lamium album) is at its best at the moment down here in Devon. It has a wonderful scented flavour and is less ‘hairy’ than Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica) when cooked. I had some left over roast potatoes, so the other day I whipped up this Frittata recipe. …
This Wild Garlic recipe (Ramsons) with the grains of salt and the soft oil on top of the fluffy bread is quite simply perfection. This is the basic bread recipe that I use for simple loaves and rolls with other types of flour. I think the texture is better for …
When Wild Garlic (Ramsons) appears you know that Springtime is on its way. The wonderfully mild garlic taste of cooked Wild Garlic makes this quiche recipe a great way to welcome back the return of the sun after many months of Winter. Wild Garlic Quiche Recipe Ingredients Pastry mix 6oz …
Lesser celandine should never be eaten raw, as all parts of the plant contain a toxic compound called protoanemonin. However, this toxin is completely destroyed when the plant is cooked or dried, making it safe to consume once properly prepared. As a member of the buttercup family, lesser celandine can …
Acorn recipes tend to be rather bland and boring. Most folks grind them into flour and add that to bread or as a thickener for stews and casseroles. For this acorn recipe, I decided to do something a little different. Why not spice them up and pickle them. So there …
Traditionally laverbread was eaten by the Welsh. Having a small bit of Welsh blood and living in Devon I decided to do a bit of cultural blending and created this Devon Laverbread recipe. I’d never made laverbread before, and after 10 hours of boiling the seaweed, I wondered just what …
Back in the 16th and 17th century Rock Samphire pickle was eaten regularly. These days it’s virtually unheard of thanks to the boring, puritan Victorians who deemed it unworthy as a foodstuff. Personally I love it and eat it mixed into brown rice or millet with a dash of tamari …
I love this Wild Celery recipe served with crisp, hot potato wedges. A divine recipe that will have you going back for more… again and again. Wild Celery Recipe Ingredients 100g black olives, pitted 45g capers in brine, drained and rinsed 4 fat cloves garlic, peeled 30g wild celery 100g …
Home > Plants > Black mustard This recipe is best made up to an hour before serving so the Black Mustard Leaf sushi is served as fresh as possible. Refrigeration spoils the texture. Many other fillings can be tried. Try experimenting with grated radish, carrot, smoked salmon, fine slices red …
This Wild Celery soup is an alternative to the traditional one served after sunset during Ramadan in Morocco when food is allowed to be eaten and the daily fast has ended. I think it makes a welcome addition to a bleak rain-swept cold winter’s day offering warmth and comfort. The …
This Hedgerow Jam Recipe is made from seasonal wild fruits foraged from the countryside. A wonderful combination that gives a great boost to your Vitamin C levels. 8oz rosehips 1lb sloes 2lb crab apples 10oz blackberries & raspberries 10oz sugar Suggested Instructions Wash and clean the fruit. Put the rosehips, …
Sea Aster (Aster tripolium) makes an ideal bedfellow with any line caught white fish. This dish can be made in advance and baked when needed. Serve with a salad or cooked green vegetable. Sea Aster Recipe Ingredients 500g salad potatoes 8 plum tomatoes 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 clove garlic, …
The stems of the Alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum) goes really well with the cheese and potato filling. You can either make your own flaky pastry, I use 200g strong plain flour to 150g butter or buy one ready-made, but do try to ensure it is made with butter. Shaping the pasties …
I no longer recommend this plant be served to the public. This plant is not for beginners. Never eat raw. Always wear gloves when gathering. Please read these important Safety Notes. This fermented hogweed Borsch recipe is divine. In Russia Hogweed’s (Heracleum sphondylium) old name was “borschevnic”. The soup was …
This Nettle Soup recipe is not set in stone and is a great way of using up leftovers lurking in the fridge. It offers a really easy lunch and brightens up one of those wild windy autumn or winter days with heat and earthy goodness. Another plus side, it is …
For this burdock root recipe, you can use either the roots of Greater Burdock (Arctium lappa) or Lesser Burdock (Arctium minus). Burdock roots can be roasted with other vegetables at the same time. They offer a taste similar to parsnips which complements the crispy coating. Please note that it is …
This Pine Needle (Pinaceae) recipe makes a wonderful alternative to Balsamic Vinegar. Deeply scented, Pine vinegar can be used in salad dressings, as a hot drink to help ward off seasonal colds. It goes well with fish when added to sauces etc. For this recipe I used Monterey Pine (Pinus …
Although Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) is not exactly a ‘wild food’ it does come to the foragers attention because it grows so prolifically, oftentimes bursting out of gardens and onto banks as it makes its escape to the wild. This Nasturtium recipe is an ideal dish to serve as a starter …
The combination of Hairy Bittercress’s (Cardamine hirsuta) earthy flavours with the sweet, salt and acidic dressing and the vivid contrast of colours makes a wonderful Autumnal warm salad. Hairy Bittercress Recipe Ingredients 4 beetroot (weighing about 500g) 50g sunflower and/or pumpkin seeds 2 tablespoons maple syrup 2 tablespoons oil (I …
Horseradish leaf (Armoracia rusticana) makes a wonderful green vegetable, and raw it can taste very hot, however once cooked the hotness disappears. Cooked Horseradish leaf has a wonderful texture and flavour and goes perfectly as a cabbage substitute in Bubble & Squeak. Horseradish Leaf Recipe Ingredients 600g floury potatoes such …
I love the flavour of plantain seeds (Plantago spp). They have a mild, nutty taste. Plantain seed is also pretty high in calcium. This recipe makes a superb snack. Plantain Recipe Ingredients 1 handful of plantain seeds (either greater or ribwort) 3 handfuls of pumpkin seeds 3 handfuls of sesame …
In this Chickweed recipe (Stellaria media), we’ve added Wild Angelica (Angelica sylvestris) seeds to give the salad dressing a bit of pep. Chickweed is highly nutritious providing large amounts of protein and minerals. You can find it pretty much throughout the year, and it is wonderful as a salad ingredient. …
For this Stinging Nettle Gnocchi recipe you do need to use a floury potato (we used King Edwards), to avoid using too much flour in the recipe. It is possible to freeze the uncooked Stinging Nettle gnocchi (after they have been shaped and lightly dusted in flour to stop them …
Redshank (Persicaria maculosa) is a member of the Dock family. Under-utilised as a wild food it is not very well known about, and very few authors have explored its culinary uses. In this Redshank recipe I hope to address this imbalance. I find Redshank rather bland as a vegetable, and …
Home > Plants > Elder The elderberries (Sambucus nigra) are abundant this year. Great bunches of them are hanging off the branches, bowing down almost begging to be picked and made into an elderberry cordial syrup. As humans, we can benefit a lot from elderberry culinary delights. In folklore, Elderberries …
This White Dead Nettle recipe (Lamium album) makes a refreshing change to the usual run-of-the-mill greens you pick up in your local grocery store. Don’t worry about getting stung because White Dead Nettle won’t sting you at all. White Dead Nettle Recipe Ingredients 1 handful of white dead nettle leaves …
I no longer recommend this plant be served to the public. This plant is not for beginners. Never eat raw. Always wear gloves when gathering. Please read these important Safety Notes. Hogweed seed (Heracleum sphondylium) is a unique, but delightful new taste sensation. This recipe combines the subtle flavours of …
The scented delights of Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) are sadly drawing to a close for this year. Fortunately, as I was visiting some of my favourite foraging haunts along the North Cornwall coast I spied some. It was like it was waving good-bye until next season. I stopped and picked a small container …
Fat hen makes a delicious green vegetable. In this recipe Marion Turnbull, our resident Wild Food Cook has created a simple, light Fat Hen recipe that works great either as a main course or as a mezze. Ingredients Pesto Method You may not need all the pesto, so store in …
The glut of Cherry Plums (Prunus cerasifera) this year is astounding. In fact most of the wild fruit coming out, or just about to, reminds me yet again, that Nature is truly abundant. A simple observation of my local environment makes this self evident. One thing I have learnt from …
I can smell the gentle scent of Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) as it is carried on the breeze down the country lane I am ambling along. My now elderly cairn terrier, Pip, is taking his time as we do the ritual afternoon stroll. Old and lazy, Pip allows me time to harvest the …
Home > Plants > Ash The keys of Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) provide a unique taste sensation. If you’re into Slow Food then this is certainly a slow recipe as it takes three months before you can indulge your taste buds. One thing to make sure is that you pick your …
If you love hummus and love Wild Garlic also known as Ramsons (Allium ursinum), then you have got to try this Raw Wild Garlic Houmous Recipe. It will have you purring with delight. Wild Garlic Houmous Recipe Ingredients 12 oz of sprouted chickpeas two -three handfuls of sunflower seeds that …
The following Nettle Beer recipe was created by Maude Grieve back in the 1930’s. Maude was a Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society, as well as an extremely respected herbalist with an encyclopaedic knowledge of medicinal plants. During the First World War she wrote and published pamphlets on the cultivation …
I try and eat as much of my wild edible plants in their raw state as possible. In this wonderful raw Ground Elder recipe, the vibrant flavour of Ground Elder (Aegopodium podagraria) goes perfectly with the Nettles (Urtica dioica). Ground Elder Soup Recipe Ingredients 1 handful of Ground Elder leaves …
Most people often think of soup when they talk about Stinging Nettles (Urtica dioica). For those of you that have been going on at me to give you a Nettle soup recipe, here it is. Nettles have often been seen as the food of peasants. Nothing wrong with that says …
In this simple wild food recipe, I combine Lady’s Smock with Three Cornered Leek and tomatoes for a quick and easy side-salad. Lady’s Smock (Cardamine pratensis), also known as Cuckooflower, is one of my favourite edible wild flowers. Delicate and beautiful I never really use much as it’s not that …
I made this Nettle Energy Balls recipe for our local Sidmouth Sustainable Funday event. Out of all the cakes and biscuits, these raw sweets went down extremely well, and we sold out within a couple of hours. Nettle Energy Balls Recipe Ingredients 8 ounces of dates 4 ounces of soaked …
This Ground Elder Tempeh Recipe (Aegopodium podagraria) is a current staple wild food for my family at the moment. It’s prolific, and well worth harvesting. Try my quick vegetarian ground elder recipe, that I rustled up last night. Ground Elder Tempeh Recipe Ingredients 2 good handfuls of ground elder leaves …
Pickled Buds of Alexanders Recipe – Alexanders buds have a heavily-scented flavour, unlike anything you have most probably tried. Alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum) are an ancient food source that goes back to Roman Times, and this is one of those recipes that you either love or it doesn’t do much for …
This recipe was created and posted back in April 2009. I was rummaging through Facciola’s Cornucopia II: A Source Book of Edible Plants where he mentions pickled magnolia flowers. Facciola goes on to reference U.P. Hedrick’s edition of Sturtevant’s edible plants of the world where he says: ‘The flowers are …
This Nettle Cordial Recipe makes a wonderfully refreshing Springtime drink. When friends put it to the taste test, pretty much everyone agreed that they couldn’t think of a single taste that this Nettle Cordial Recipe resembled. There is so much that you can do with Nettles, and this is a …
Home > Plants > Dock While filming my friend Simone, we made a truly scrumptious broad-leaved dock recipe, consisting of wilted dock leaves, rice, feta and seaweed parcels. Many people will turn their noses up at this recipe, because traditionally, Dock in the UK tastes rather bitter. However there is …
<span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;” class=”mce_SELRES_start”>?</span> In this video, my friend Simone, a forager with 40 years experience, talks us through not only how to make this scrummy treat, but also her philosophy of foraging, and how wild edible plants have transformed her life. Chocolate …
Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica) has traditionally been used as a Spring tonic, and in this video I show you just how easy it is to make a nourishing Nettle infusion. Last week I went on a two-day Nettle infusion fast. Now I’ve fasted numerous times over the years, but using …
Lesser celandine should never be eaten raw, as all parts of the plant contain a toxic compound called protoanemonin. However, this toxin is completely destroyed when the plant is cooked or dried, making it safe to consume once properly prepared. As a member of the buttercup family, lesser celandine can …
The young growth of Alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum) are just beginning to emerge, and now is the time to don your wellies and hunt out this delicious Springtime green. The shoots are a little young at the moment but are still worth going out and foraging for. Ideally, you need to …
Home > Plants > Gorse It was a cold and frosty late afternoon on December 30th when Zillah and I decided to go chasing Gorse flowers. Vibrantly bright, Gorse certainly isn’t a timid plant. I love to graze on Gorse flowers when I walk. The sweet nectar that hides itself …
My wife came home the other day with a huge bag of dandelion roots which she plonked in the middle of the kitchen floor, smiling a huge smile. Dandelion coffee anyone? And so the washing, grinding and roasting began. Please note it is illegal to dig up roots without landowner’s …
I went and picked Sorrel (Rumex acetosa) for this warming, tangy sorrel soup recipe. Sorrel is widely available, and can often be found on grassland and in hedges. For this recipe, I went along an old green lane at the back of my house and found a great cluster of …
This is a lovely, simple hawthorn jelly recipe that you can have with cheese or meats. Make it now and you’ll be in time for giving it away as Christmas presents. If your celebrating is more earth-centric, then you’ll be in time for the return of the sun on December …
Burdock (Arctium) root is a tasty addition to a stir-fry. You can use either Greater Burdock (Arctium lappa) or Lesser Burdock (Arctium minus). IMPORTANT: Please note that it is illegal to dig up roots without the landowner’s permission. When harvesting burdock root, make sure that you gather it only from …
Home > Plants > Himalayan balsam The transportation of seeds or whole plants is an offence under the Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order 2019 in England and Wales and Section 14AA of the Wildlife and Countryside Act in Scotland. This means that no seeds or plants should be …
Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) vinegar is fantastic added to salad dressings. It can also be used as a thirst quencher on a hot day and is excellent as a hot drink when you have a cold or the flu. When you notice a cold looming, take 1 tablespoon of blackberry vinegar …