Tasty Foraging Experience, What to eat and what not to eat.

Three cornered leek

We've just come back from a day of foraging for food, hosted by Jasper from Totally Wild UK which was held at Portwrinkle just a few miles away from where we live. The day was perfect, sunny and warm with no wind.
The first part of the course was a short walk down a leafy path to the beach. Our first plant to identify was Sea Spinach, a plant I had always seen but never knew it was edible. The identification was simple as it has a slightly waxy leaf in the shape of a spearhead and you can use it in stir-frys, or as a salad vegetable. You need to pick the newish leaves at the older ones can be quite tough. Always pick above dog-leg height for obvious reasons.

Jasper explaining about Sea Spinach

Jasper explained that it is illegal to uproot plants but on public land it is fine to take the leaves.  He usually goes by the rule, a third for him, a third for the animals and a third for the plant.

Dulse

Then we then had a little rock pool ramble and we were taught how to identify the seaweed Dulse and Sea-lettuce.  

Sea Lettuce

In fact all seaweed in the UK waters are edible, it also makes a very good fertiliser but can be quite smelly.  Bladderwrack can be dried and mixed with an oil like jojoba. It is supposedly very good for the skin.

Bladderwrack

Our next walk was a little inland, and the first thing that was pointed out was Sorrell.  NOT to be confused with Lords and Ladies.  Ha ha, we told everyone of Martin's mistake.  Jasper said he had never met anyone who had tasted Lords and Ladies and survived.  Martin explained that as soon as he bit into it he knew it was a mistake as it tastes as if you have ground glass in your mouth.  Luckily he had not ingested any.  The main form of identification is that the leaf has horn-shape next to the stem whereas Lords and Ladies are round.   Sorrell tastes a bit like apples.

Sorrell

Then we found some Wild Mint and we were told about the Elder tree.  I have made elderflower cordial in the past but never knew there was a type of fungus that lives on dead elder trees.  The fungus that grows on a dead elder tree is called Jelly Ear fungus because it looks like a human ear.  This fungi is often used in asian cuisine for its crunchy texture, it is often added to soups and stir-fries.  We didn't find any but it was an interesting fact.

Stinging Nettles.  Yes, apparently if you get the topmost new leaves they don't sting you.  Ha ha, they stung Martin.  Then rolled into a tight ball and eaten.  Not really much of a taste to be honest.  I remember our sons David and Matthew once trying to earn some extra money, collecting nettle leaves for the Yarg Cheese company, a company that wraps its cheese in nettle leaves.  The Cheese Farm at that time was at the end of the road we lived in Rilla Mill.  They had to collect them by the kilo and each leaf had to be individually packed in a tub between layers of kitchen roll.  The nettles had to be from a fresh patch away from the road.  There are many nettle leaves in a kilo and in the end the money earned was not worth the effort involved.  

Nettles can be made into a cordial as well, very similar to the elderflower recipe.  Next we were given a tiny bit of Nettle Cordial mixed with tequila, that Jasper had in his bag.  Very nice indeed.  I may give it a go.

Incidentally, when Martin stung his fingers collecting the stinging nettles everyone said find a Dock leaf.  This apparently is a myth that a Dock leaf takes away the sting.  In fact, you are better off rubbing with Plantain which has a far better effect as it actually has some anti-histamine in the leaves.  It also has an powerful anti-ergot effect.  Ergot is an alkaloid found in the Ergot fungus that can contaminate grain crops particularly Rye.  In the past it led to outbreaks of ergotism, which was associated with mass hallucinations and hyperactivity (LSD is derived from Ergot) Then followed gangrene of the peripheries (hands/feet) as ergotamine causes blood vessels to spasm.  Before the gangrene took hold, affected victims would get a severe burning pain in their hands and feet called St Anthony's fire.  Local priests would organise collections of Plantain which was used to treat this, hence it being also called St Anthony's Plant.  Such mass outbreaks were often followed by all the local single old ladies being rounded up and burned as witches.  Nowadays, a derivative of Ergot, called Ergotamine, is used in obstetrics, delivered as a intramuscular injection immediately after the baby is delivered,  it helps to close down the uterine vessels and prevent postpartum haemorrhage. 

That much will kill you if you get it wrong

We also learned that Hogweed is edible but very similar to Hemlock, deadly poisonous, in fact a tiny fraction of Hemlock leaf ingested is enough to kill you.  Jasper told the tale of someone he knew had been strimming some Hemlock and got a small piece on his tongue, it was enough to send him to hospital but luckily because he had not swallowed it he survived.  Maybe we'll give that one a miss.

Three-cornered leek is out in abundance at the moment and is very similar to wild garlic and can be used in salads and made into pesto.  It is an invasive species thought to have been brought over by the Romans.  You are doing a good thing by eating it.  That's good to know because our garden is full of it at the moment.  The flower buds before they open are the strongest and have a strong garlic taste, the leaves are the best to use.

Gorse flower (old photo)

Gorse flowers can be used and eaten and bring colour to any salad.  They taste a bit like coconut.  

Then we came to the humble Dandelion.  That annoying weed that we all want to get rid of.  However, we learned that if you roast the roots and grind them you can make a type of coffee-like substance.  Again Jasper reached into his bag and brought out a spray which we all had a taste of.  He asked if we tasted coffee.  We did, but he reiterated no coffee was used,  the liqueur was made with the dandelion root and added to vodka!  It tasted a bit like Kahlua, or Tia Maria.  Now I am going to go and pull up all my Dandelions and have a go at making it.  Jasper said he usually grows his dandelions in a big tub, then empties it out to get to the roots.

When we got back to the carpark, Jasper made us all a meal with all the things we had collected and some extra things he had brought along.  Starters was summer rolls made with Vietnamese rice paper  and a forage salad packed inside, also added were onions, Wild Garlic leaves and carrot shavings.  The salad was also mixed with  sweet chilli sauce made from Rosehips.  

Rosehip sweet chilli sauce

We then had a forage stir-fry. That included, nettles, dulce, sea cabbage, Sorrell, wild garlic, Sea Spinach, gorse flowers and giant hogweed.  Noodles were used and a home-made wild-garlic kimchi was added to the mix.  It was very tasty and we all had seconds.  Martin had thirds!

Stir fry with noodles

We were also given a dessert made from vegan cream, a biscuit crumb roasted Dandelion root powder with Birch sap and Dandelion petals for decoration.  (Sorry, was too greedy, forgot to take a final photo!)

The making of the desserts

All in all it was a very interesting experience so thank you to our kids for the opportunity.