| We are so inured to shop-bought factory-farmed | | | | are happy with both the consistency and the taste. |
| foods that we forget that all our foodstuffs originated | | | | This is best used fresh, but will store for a week if |
| in the wild. Indeed, everything we eat today started out | | | | placed in a jar and stored in the fridge. |
| life as a wild plant. Due to selective breeding cabbages | | | | Nettle Soup |
| and kale may not look much like their wild ancestors | | | | Ingredients: |
| any more. Which is not to say that those wild | | | | 900g young nettle tips (you need to pick these when |
| ancestors don't exist and remain perfectly edible. | | | | the nettles are about 6 to 10 cm tall. May is a good |
| If you know what to look for and how to recognize | | | | time) |
| the plants then the wild harvest can provide many | | | | ( |
| completely free delights for your table. What's more | | | | 900g spinach |
| wild foods are truly and completely seasonal and | | | | ( |
| provide a sense of what our ancestors used to eat. | | | | 900ml chicken or vegetable stock |
| With spring just around the corner it's time for all | | | | ( |
| serious foragers and anyone curious about wild foods | | | | 3 tbsp flour |
| to venture out once more. We're about to enter the | | | | ( |
| season of fresh spring greens where dandelions, | | | | 60ml cold milk |
| mustard greens, stinging nettles, deadnettles, ramsons | | | | ( |
| (wild garlic), bedstraw and many other edible delights | | | | 4 cold, cooked, sausages |
| are at their very best. | | | | ( |
| Here are two recipes that will show-off many of | | | | 3 tbsp sour creamsalt and black pepper, to taste |
| these wild spring greens to their very best: | | | | Method: |
| Wild Garlic and Wild Mustard Greens Pesto | | | | Be careful when picking the nettles as even the young |
| Ingredients: | | | | tips can still sting. Also only pick young, fresh, nettles as |
| 1 garlic clove, choppedsea salt and freshly-ground | | | | they become very bitter as they age. Wash the |
| black pepper | | | | nettles when you have enough then blanch them in |
| 150g wild mustard greens, washed and with leaves | | | | boiling water (this removes the formic acid). Drain the |
| shredded | | | | nettles and return them to the pot along with the |
| 12 ramson (wild garlic) leaves, chopped | | | | spinach. Pour in the hot stock, season and allow to |
| 100g pine nuts, very lightly toasted | | | | simmer for 4 minutes (add more stock if the mixture |
| 100g freshly grated Parmesan cheeseextra virgin olive | | | | becomes too dry). |
| oila small squeeze of lemon juice | | | | Set the soup aside to cool then purée in |
| Method: | | | | batches in a blender. Meanwhile mix the flour and milk |
| Add the garlic, wild mustard greens and ramsons to a | | | | to a smooth paste. Return the soup and the milk |
| food processor and pulse to a puree. Add the pine | | | | mixture to the pot and return to a boil. Chop the |
| nuts and pulse once again. Tip into a bowl and add half | | | | sausages into small rounds and add to the soup. Add |
| the Parmesan. Stir gently and begin adding the olive oil. | | | | the sour cream, swirl and serve immediately. |
| Add just enough so that the mixture is bound together | | | | These are only two recipes of the many thousands |
| and you achieve a thick but pliable consistency (a bit | | | | possible and they feature only two of the many |
| like mud). Add the lemon juice and most of the | | | | hundreds of edible plants that are all around us in the |
| remaining cheese. Season to taste then add a little | | | | countryside. Why not begin exploring the culinary |
| more olive oil. Alternate adding oil and cheese until you | | | | possibilities of your own backyard today? |