Wild food feast
This doesn’t have to be confined to autumn, the season of full and plenty. It can be a year-round exercise. The wild garlic blooming all over the countryside at present is a true harbinger of spring. There are two varieties Allium Triquetrum, three-cornered garlic and Allium Ursinum, also called Ransomes.
We use them both but I’m particularly fond of Allium Triquetrum, with its umbellliferous heads and pretty star-like flowers. We scatter both the leaves and flowers into salads and use them for garnishing. They make a delicious addition to a potato soup. If you have wild garlic in abundance, the leaves make a delicious wild garlic pesto. We’ve also been enjoying wild garlic in champ in addition to the usual spring onion.
A walk through the woods at present is such a joy not only because the bluebells, wood anemones and primroses are in bloom, but I’ve been enjoying the fresh green leaves of the wood sorrel. These cute little shamrock-like sharp, fresh-tasting, leaves are also delicious sprinkled into salads, or as a garnish. Buckler leaf sorrel and lamb’s tongue sorrel are also worth seeking out, as is the common field sorrel Rumex Acetosa. The little leaves are easy to spot with little ‘pointy ears’ at the base of the leaf.
For those of us who live close to the coast, sea spinach is at its best at present, easy to identify, it resembles slightly coarse perpetual spinach and can be eaten and cooked in exactly the same way.
This is also the very best time of the year for nettles. They are young and tender. Remember our ancestors swore by four feeds of nettles in the month of May to clear the blood and keep the rheumatics at bay.
The darling little primrose and violet flowers can also be eaten and are particularly irresistible when crystallised. We use them to decorate cakes and buns, my daughter-in- law Penny makes adorable little cup cakes and decorates them with crystallised flowers.
So how about a walk on the wild side this weekend to discover the gastronomic delights of the hedgerow and seashore.
