Wild Food Guide 'J'

Wild Foods Guide 'J'

This is the tenth of my series of 26 postings on wild foods. Each post will deal with a separate letter of the alphabet ('J' today) and will describe a wild food beginning with that letter as well as presenting a classic recipe incorporating that wild food.

Today I'm dealing with the letter 'J', the tenth letter of the English alphabet, which includes foods such as Jack-by-the-Hedge, Japanese Knotweed, Juniper Berries, Japanese Rose, Jew's Ear Fungus and many others. Today, however I am going to devote this page to Japanese Knotween and Jew's Ear Fungus.


The Japanese Knotweed (also known Polygonum cuspidatum, Reynoutria japonica, fleeceflower, Huzhang (Chinese: 虎杖; pinyin: Hǔzhàng), Hancock's curse, elephant ears, donkey rhubarb (although it is not a rhubarb), sally rhubarb, Japanese bamboo, American bamboo, and Mexican bamboo (though it is not a bamboo)), Fallopia japonica, is a member of the family Polygonaceae (kotweed or smartweed). It is a large, herbaceous perennial plant, native to eastern Asia in Japan, China and Korea. It has been extensively introduced into the U.S.A. and Europe where the species has been very successful and has become very invasive in several countries.

The young stems are edible as a spring vegetable, with a flavour similar to mild rhubarb. In some locations, semi-cultivating Japanese knotweed for food has been used as a means of controlling knotweed populations that invade sensitive wetland areas and drive out the native vegetation. When the shoots are young they can be used in just about any recipe that call for rhubarb or asparagus.

Here I present a classic modern Asian-inspired fusion recipes for a curry of lentils and Japanese knotwed :

Lentil Curry with Japanese Knotweed and Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:
150g dry red lentils
1 large sweet potato, peeled and sliced
1 tbsp ghee
180g young Japanese knotweed shoots, diced
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp ginger, grated
1 tbsp hot red chilli powder
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
45g freshly-grated coconut

Method:
Wash the lentils thoroughly then add to a pan. Add water to cover then bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Stir-in the sweet potatoes then cover with a tight-fitting lid and simmer until soft (about 50 minutes) — check the water levels and top-up as needed.

At this stage remove the lentil and sweet potato mix from the heat, drain and set aside. Meanwhile, add the ghee to a pan and once hot stir-in the Japanese knotweed. Stir-fry for 1 minute then reduce the heat and continue cooking for about 15 minutes, or until tender. Stir-in the honey and spices and cook for 1 minute more. Mash together the lentils and sweet potatoes with a fork then stir into the rhubarb mix.

Turn the mixture into an oven-proof dish and transfer to an oven pre-heated to 200°C. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned on top and hot through. Garnish with the grated coconut and serve.

This recipe is reproduced, with permission, from the Lentil Curry with Japanese Knotweed and Sweet Potatoes Recipe from the Fusion Recipes collection of the Celtnet Recipes Collection.

If you are interested in recipes for Japanese Knotwed then you can find a range of Japanese Knotweed recipes.



Jew's Ear Fungus Auricularia auricula-judae, (also known as: also known as: Judas's ear fungus, jelly ear fungus, wood ear fungus) is a member of the family Auricularaceae (literally the 'ear-shaped' fungus). Indeed, all these fungi are conspicuously ear-shaped. These fungi are native to Europe and Asia and are often used in Asian, particularly Chinese cooking, where they are known as 'wood ear' or 'tree ear'. It is one of the few fungi available all year round.

These fungi typically grow on decaying elder tree branches (though in China they are commercially grown on rotting oak) and they are immediately recognizable. However, their shapes, colours and clammy nature do not immediately point to them as being an edible species. However, gathered young (whilst still soft and moist) they make excellent eating. The easiest way of harvesting is to cut them from the host tree with a sharp knife, discarding any stems. As the fungi age they become tough and all-but inedible though even the old Jew's Ear fungus can be dried and ground for use as a flavouring and thickener for soups and stews. Even young versions of this fungus need long-term cooking and have to be boiled for 45 minutes or more in stock or milk before being eaten. But the flavour is almost beyond compare, hence their value in Chinese soups.

The recipe presented below is for a classic Chinese recipe for a stir-fry of chicken and Jew's ear mushrooms with vermicelli.

Vermicelli with Chicken and Wood Ear Mushrooms

Ingredients:
120g dry vermicelli pasta
750g boneless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
100g spring onion greens, chopped
1 carrot, julienned
30g fresh coriander, chopped
3 tbsp garlic, minced
2 onions, diced
freshly-ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
80g wood ear mushrooms, soaked in water for 20 minutes
20g annatto seeds
850ml chicken stock
3 tbsp cooking oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
salt, to taste

Method:
Heat a wok and add the cooking oil. When the oil begins to smoke add the annatto seeds and continue frying until the oil turns a bright red. Remove the annatto seeds with a slotted spoon at this point. Now add the garlic and cook until golden brown before adding the onions. Fry until soft and transparent then add the chicken, soy sauce and oyster sauce. Stir-fry until the chicken is lightly browned then season and add the vegetables. Stir-fry for 15 seconds then remove from the wok and set aside.

Add 250ml of stock to the wok and bring to a soft boil then press the vermicelli into the hot liquid. Lower the heat, cover the wok and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. When it dries out add another 250ml of stock. Add the wood ears then stir-in the chicken mixture. Cover and simmer for another 5 minutes. Test the pasta for doneness and if not ready add some more stock and continue cooking. When the vermicelli is tender and all the stock has been absorbed add the spring onion greens and the coriander.

Stir-fry for a few minutes then serve.


This recipe is reproduced, with permission, from the Vermicelli with Chicken and Wood Ear Mushrooms Recipe from the Celtnet Eastern Asian Recipes Collection.

If you are interested in recipes for Jew's ear fungus then you can find a range of Jew's ear fungus recipes.

This guide is brought to you in conjunction with the Celtnet Wild Food Recipes collection.

You can find more wild foods beginning with the letter 'J' on the Wild Food Guide for the letter 'J', part of the Celtnet Wild Food Guide.

Wild Food Guide 'I'

Wild Foods Guide 'I'

This is the ninth of my series of 26 postings on wild foods. Each post will deal with a separate letter of the alphabet ('I' today) and will describe a wild food beginning with that letter as well as presenting a classic recipe incorporating that wild food.

Today I'm dealing with the letter 'I', the ninth letter of the English alphabet, which includes foods such as Irish Moss and Ivy-leaved Toadflax and many others. Today, however I am going to devote this page to hawthorn and hazel.


The Irish Moss (also known Carragheen, Carrageen, Carragheen Moss, Carraigín), Chondrus crispus, is a red alga and a member of the Gigartinaceae family. It grows abundantly along the rocky parts of the Atlantic coast of Europe and North America. In its fresh condition the plant is soft and cartilaginous, varying in colour from a greenish-yellow to a dark purple or purplish-brown; but when washed and sun-dried for preservation it has a yellowish translucent horn-like aspect and consistency.

The plant inhabits the lower shore, with a fairly cosmopolitan distribution. It can grow up to around 150 mm long, with dichotomous branching of the frond. It is similar and often confused with Mastocarpus stellatus, but is distinguished by the flat frond.

When softened in water it has a sea-like odour, and because of the abundant mucilage it will form a jelly when boiled, containing from 20 to 30 times its weight of water. Irish moss is a major source of carrageenan, which is commonly used as a thickener and stabilizer in processed foods, including ice cream and luncheon meat. As a result carragheen is an important setting agent (it has little flavour of its own) and its use is known from ancient times.

Here I present a classic reconstructed Ancient recipe for a desert made from blackberries and irish moss :

Blackberry Juice and Seaweed Pudding

Ingredients:
70g dried carragheen (Irish Moss)
1kg blackberries, picked over and washed
1l water
2 tbsp honey

Method:
Combine the fruit, honey and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, cover and continue cooking for 1 hour. Strain through a sieve, pulping the fruit with the back of a spoon to extract as much juice as possible, then return the juice to the saucepan and add the seaweed. Return to a simmer and cook for about 40 minutes, or until the seaweed has dissolved. Take off the heat and allow to cool a little then pour into a bowl and allow to cool completely.

Place in the refrigerator to chill (it will set) and serve with honey and cream.

This recipe is reproduced, with permission, from the Blackberry Juice and Seaweed Pudding Recipe from the Ancient Recipes collection of the Celtnet Recipes Collection.

If you are interested in recipes for Irish Moss leaves or berries then you can find a range of Irish Moss recipes.



Ivy-leaved Toadflax Cymbalaria muralis, (also known as: Aaron's beard and Kenilworth Ivy) is a member of the family Scrophulariaceae (figwort). It is a flowering plant native to Mediterranean Europe, though it has been extensively introduced to and naturalized in the remainder of Europe and much of the globe. It is most commonly found growing on walls and bears ivy-like leaves that are somewhat thick in texture, and smooth, are cutup into five prominent, rounded lobes or divisions, and are on long stalks. The backs of the leaves are of a reddish-purple. Typically the plant is in flower from May to September, and the seeds ripen from July to October. The flowers themselves are small and pale lilac in colour.

The leaves are edibla and are typically eaten raw in salads. They are commonly used in the Mediterranean region and are slightly acrid and pungent like cress. In common with many wild greent the leaves become increasingly bitter with age and are best consumed when young.

The recipe presented below is for a classic British recipe for a salad of wild leaves (with ivy-leaved toadflax) and apples.

Spiced Apple and Wild Spring Leaf Salad

Ingredients:
Ivy-leaved toadflax leaves
Wild chervil
Hairy Bittercress
Wild Lamb's Lettuce
parsley piert leaves (use sparingly and only pick young leaves)
wild ramson greens
wood sorrel leaves

1 tart eating apple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced into rings then quartered
60g raisins
3 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly-grated ginger
generous grating of fresh nutmeg
100g rocket
50g fresh mint (wild mint if you can find it)
olive oil

Method:
You will need to collect about 200g of the wild leaves. Was them well then toss all the leaves together. Meanwhile peel, core and slice the apple place in a bowl with the raisins, dress with the lemon juice and sprinkle the spices over the top. Toss to mix then combine with the greens. Drizzle a little olive oil over the top and serve.

This salad has a bit of a zing to it and makes an excellent intermediary betwen a fish and a min course.


This recipe is reproduced, with permission, from the Spiced Apple and Wild Spring Leaf Salad Recipe from the Celtnet British Recipes Collection.

If you are interested in recipes for ovy-leaved toadflax then you can find a range of ivy-leaved toadflax recipes.

This guide is brought to you in conjunction with the Celtnet Wild Food Recipes collection.

You can find more wild foods beginning with the letter 'I' on the Wild Food Guide for the letter 'I', part of the Celtnet Wild Food Guide.

Wild Food Guide 'H'

Wild Foods Guide 'H'

This is the eighth of my series of 26 postings on wild foods. Each post will deal with a separate letter of the alphabet ('H' today) and will describe a wild food beginning with that letter as well as presenting a classic recipe incorporating that wild food.

Today I'm dealing with the letter 'H', the eighth letter of the English alphabet, which includes foods such as hairy bittercress, hawthorn, hedge mustard, herb bennet, hops, horse mushroom, hazel, heather, horehound, hogweed, horseradish and many others. Today, however I am going to devote this page to hawthorn and hazel.


The Hawthron (also known as May, Maythorn, Quickthorn, and Haw), Crataegus monogyna, is a monocot perennial flowering plant and member of the Cyperaceae (sedge) family. Superficially, galingale resembles a is a small tree grwoing to some 10m tall which is a member of the Rosaceae (rose) family. It is native to Europe, northwest Africa and western Asia where it generally produces flowers in May and early June. The flowers develop to numerous small bright-red fruit known as Haws which are an important foodstuff for wild birds.

The hawthorn is one of the archetypical hedgerow trees of the British countryside. In the images above the tree is shown as it is in spring (with its white intensely-scented flowers) and as it is in autumn, full of the red berries that birds love so much.

What may surprise you is that young hawthorn leaves are extremely tasty and make a great addition to any salad (but only worth picking the really young ones. The berries are also edible and are very high in vitamin C and can be made into jams, jellies and preserves. The flower buds are also edible can be made into a spring pudding.

Here I present a classic English sauce based on hawthorn berries :

Haw Sauce

Ingredients:
750g Haws (Hawthorn Berries)
450ml vinegar
100g sugar
25g salt
1 tsp freshly-ground black pepper

Method:
Separate each berry from their sprays (removing and stems) and wash them. Throw away any damaged berries and place all the remaining berries in a pan along with the vinegar. Bring to a simmer and cook over a gentl heat for 30 minutes. Press the pulp through a sieve and return to the resultant liquid to the pan along with sugar and seasonings. Boil for 10 minutes, allow to cool then pour into warmed and sterilized bottles and seal.

This makes a delicious ketchup to go with either hot or cold meats. It's excellent with game. For a richer version of this sauce add 1 finely-chopped red chilli and 20g high cocoa content chocolate.

This recipe is reproduced, with permission, from the Haw Sauce Recipe from the English Recipes collection of the Celtnet Recipes Collection.

If you are interested in recipes for hawthorn leaves or berries then you can find a range of hawthorn berry/leaves/buds recipes.



Common Hazel Corylus avellana, (also known as Cobnut) is a species of hazel and a member of the Betulaceae (beech) family. This deciduous shrub (which rarely grows more that 7m tall) is native to Europe and Asia. It bears dark green leaves that are rounded, 6–12 cm long and across, softly hairy on both surfaces, and with a double-serrate margin. It is the hazel that bears the classic catkins (also known as 'labmbs' tails' of carly spring (though these can appear any time from December to April. The plant is monoecious (ie bears separate male and female flowers on the same plant) with the female flowers being very small and largely concealed in the buds, with only the bright red 1-3 mm long styles visible. The fruit is a true nut, produced in clusters of one to five with each nut held in a leafy husk (an involucre) that encloses up to 3/4 of the nut. The nut falls from the involucre when ripe (generally in October) some eight months after pollination.

The common hazel is an important component of traditional hedgerows where they were interleaved to form impenetrable boundaries to domestic livestock. The wood was also traditoinally grown as a coppice with poles used for wattle-and-daub housing as well as for agricultural fencing. Common Hazel is cultivated for its nuts in commercial orchards in Turkey, Europe, China and Australia. This hazelnut or cobnut, the kernel of the seed, is edible and used raw or roasted, or ground into a paste. When collecting your own clean with a dry cloth and leave the nuts in their shells, they will then keep over winter and only need to be cracked open for use. Hazelnuts work well in both sweeet (pralines and chocolate) or savory dishes (they can be used in salads, stews and even make a flour if roasted and ground). They also make a refreshing drink if ground in a blender and mixed with milk.

The recipe presented below is for a classic English cake made from hazelnuts/cobnuts.

Kentish Cobnut Cake

Ingredients:
225g self-raising flour
1 tsp ground ginger
110g butter (at room temperature)
110g brown sugar
50g cobnuts (or hazelnuts), roasted and chopped
1 large egg, beaten

Method:
Grease a loaf tin then sift the flour into a bowl along with the ginger. Rub-in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs then add the sugar and nuts and mix well to combine. Stir-in the beaten egg (don't worry if the mixture remains dry and crumbly, this is fine). Transfer the mix to the prepared loaf tin and pat down gently with a fork.

Place in the centre of an oven pre-heated to 180°C and bake for about 25 to 35 minutes. Test with a skewer and if this emerges cleanly from the centre of the cake then it's cooked. Allow to cool completely and slice thickly before serving.


This recipe is reproduced, with permission, from the Kentish Cobnut Cake Recipe from the Celtnet English Recipes Collection.

If you are interested in recipes for hazelnuts or cobnuts then you can find a range of hazel-based recipes.

This guide is brought to you in conjunction with the Celtnet Wild Food Recipes collection.

You can find more wild foods beginning with the letter 'H' on the Wild Food Guide for the letter 'H', part of the Celtnet Wild Food Guide.

Wild Food Guide 'G'

Wild Foods Guide 'G'

This is the seventh of my series of 26 postings on wild foods. Each post will deal with a separate letter of the alphabet ('G' today) and will describe a wild food beginning with that letter as well as presenting a classic recipe incorporating that wild food.

Today I'm dealing with the letter 'G', the seventh letter of the English alphabet, which includes foods such as galingale, girolle mushrooms, greater plantain, Guelder rose, Good King Henry, gorse, garlic mustard, ground elder and many others. Today, however I am going to devote this page to galingale and ground elder.


The Galingale (also known as Sweet Galingale), Cyperus longus, is a monocot perennial flowering plant and member of the Cyperaceae (sedge) family. Superficially, galingale resembles a grass or rush that prefers wet ground and is closely related to the Egyptian papyrus. It is native to Britain and the Mediterranean and grows by water and in marshy places. It quickly grows to 2m in height and has large, attractive inflorescences.

The tuberous roots are edible and have an aromatic violet-like tone. They were a critical ingredient of many Medieval recipes and were used where today we would use ginger or galangal. Sweet Galingale is one of those plants that has fallen out of culinary use in Europe, though it and its close relatives are still used in Europe. If you have a damp corner in your garden then this is a plant that's well worth growing and adding to your foods.

However, if you are familiar with Medieval foods and recipes you will have come across many redactions (modernizations) calling for galingale. Often this is incorrectly translated as Oriental galangal. However, the real galingale is the sedge root described here. With this information you can collect and prepare your own galingale and prepare the Medieval dishes as they were meant to be made.

Here I present a classic Medieval recipe for a fig stew incorporating galingale :

Fig Stew

Ingredients:
300g raisins
300g figs, diced
1 bottle sweet white wine (eg muscat)
1 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp ground mace
1 tsp galingale
2 tbsp rice flour

Method:
Place the fruit in a saucepan, cover with the wine, bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer and cook until they become soft (about 25 minutes). At this pont mash the fruit into a fine paste (use a food processor if you wish).

Pour the wine and fruit mixture back into the saucepan, add the spices and cook until it thickens (if it doesn't get thick enough add some of the rice flour until it does thicken). In the original recipe sandalwood is added as a colouring. You can add a drop of fed food colouring or a few grains of sumac if you want.

This recipe is reproduced, with permission, from the Fig Stew Recipe from the Medieval Recipes collection of the Celtnet Recipes Collection.

If you are interested in recipes for galingale then you can find a range of field mushroom recipes.



Ground Elder Aegopodium podagraria, ((also known as Goutweed, Herb Gerard, Bishop's Weed and Snow-in-the-mountain) is a hairless perennial weed in the Apiaceae (Umbelliferae or carrot) family. It grows rapidly and attains a height of about 1m. It's range covers most of Europe, western Asia and Siberia, though it was probably introduced into Britain by the Romans. The leaves are multi-lobed, with three lobes at the tip and are either green or variegated with white borders.

The plant's common name of Ground Elder derives from the superficial similarity of the Ground Elder's leaves to that of the tru Elder, Sambucus nigra, though they are totally unrelated. It was introduced into Britian as an edible plant by the Romans and was cultivated as a food crop and medicinal herb in the Middle Ages where it was mainly used as a food that could counteract gout, one of the effects of the rich foods eaten by monks, bishops and the high-born at this time. It prefers damp, shady, conditions (which is why it's a common hedgerow plant) but it will growin in any soil. Indeed, it is extremely invasive spreading rapidly via it's colonial rootstock. Once established it can be very difficult to eradicate because any small piece of root left in the ground can regrow.

The leaves of the plant can be used as a foodstuff and are best collected when young and before the plant has come into flower (after that point the leaves become strongly laxative!). They can be used raw or cooked and have an unusual tangy, rather aromatic, flavour — a little like dandelion without the sharpness; on the way to sorrel without the lemony-ness. This plant is definitely and acquired taste and most who try the plant do not like it at the first taste. Most simply, the leaves can be cooked as a spinach but young leaves can also be used in salads, soups and stocks. The young shoots make a very acceptable substitute for spinach. It is still commonly used as a potherb in Scandinavia and is used as a vegetable in Latvia and Russia.

The recipe presented below is for a classic Greek pie incorporating ground elder.

Hortapita

Ingredients:
For the Pastry:
200g butter
200g sour cream
350g plain flour
a pinch of salt

For the Filling:
3 tbsp oil
200–300g young ground elder leaves
100g onion, finely chopped
200g feta cheese
1 egg
1 tbsp dried oregano
salt and coarsely-ground black pepper
1 egg whisked with 1 tbsp water for eggwash

Method:
Begin by preparing the pastry. Melt the butter on a medium heat then take off the heat before mixing-in the sour cream, flour and salt. Knead until the pastry comes together (it should be very soft and pliable). Wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge to chill (leave for up to 30 minutes).

Meanwhile, wash the wild greens and dry thoroughly. Heat a non-stick frying pan on medium heat stir-fry the leaves until they wilt. Quickly rinse them under cold running water to stop them from cooking further. Press until dry then chop the cooked leaves coarsely.

Add the oil to the pan, add the onion and cook on low heat for about 10 minutes, or until the onion begins to soften. Take off the heat and add the other ingredients, mixing thoroughly to combine.

Roll the relaxed dough to a large rectangle about 0.5 cm thick. Halve the dough into 2 essentially equally-sized rectangles. Place the smaller one on a medium-sized baking tray, spread the filling on top, and cover with the larger dough sheet. Pinch the edges firmly together, pierce with a fork couple of times and brush with the eggwash.

Place in an oven pre-heated to 200°C and bake for 25–30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven, allow tool a little and cut into squares.


This recipe is reproduced, with permission, from the Hortapita Recipe from the Celtnet Greek Recipes Collection.

If you are interested in recipes for Ground Elder then you can find a range of ground elder recipes.

This guide is brought to you in conjunction with the Celtnet Wild Food Recipes collection.

You can find more wild foods beginning with the letter 'G' on the Wild Food Guide for the letter 'G', part of the Celtnet Wild Food Guide.

Wild Food Guide 'F'

Wild Foods Guide 'F'

This is the sixth of my series of 26 postings on wild foods. Each post will deal with a separate letter of the alphabet ('F' today) and will describe a wild food beginning with that letter as well as presenting a classic recipe incorporating that wild food.

Today I'm dealing with the letter 'F', the sixth letter of the English alphabet, which includes foods such as fat hen, field mushroom, fairy ring champignon, fireweed, furse and many others. Today, however I am going to devote this page to the field mushroom (one of my favourite musrooms) and Fat Hen.


The Field Mushroom (also known as Meadow Mushroom) represent the fruiting bodies of a basidiomycete fungus (filamentous fungi composed of hyphae that reproduce sexually), Agaricus campestris Its species name campestris is derived from the Latin word campus (meaning 'field'), and it is found most commonly in meadows either mown for hay or grazed by horses, cattle or sheep. It can be found worldwide and appears in fields and grassy areas after rain from late summer through autumn (but is most common in late August and September, though it can be found as early as June and as late as November). It is fast maturing and has a short shelf-life and ideally should be consumed immediately after picking.

The Field Mushroom grows alone (ie it is not dependent on tree species), gregariously, or sometimes in fairy rings where it tends to stimulate the growth of grass inside the ring. It is closely related to the cultivated white 'button mushrooms' sold in grocery stores but, typically, the Field Mushroom is smaller and rather more delicate in stature, while having the same characteristic mushroom smell.

Young specimens have closed caps and bear tightly-packed bright pink gills that are covered by a veil. As the mushroom matures the cap opens and becomes less and less convex, eventually flattening out. The gills darken becoming brick red then chocolate brown and finally black and slightly mucilaginous. As the fungus opens the veil tears away from the cap, leaving a transient membranous ring which can often become rubbed off. The cut flesh colours slightly pink. Typically the cap is a pure white, but there are variants that bear light brown scales and as the mushroom ages even the white ones tend to develop brown scales near the center of the cap. The margins of the cap remain inrolled until maturity where they flatten. The stipe (stem) is short and white and bruises brown whilst the flesh bruises slightly reddish and the mushroom has a stronger smell than the shop-bought varieties. The spore print is dark brown.

The classic recipe for this mushroom uses the mushroom itself as a base for a cheese topping in the form of a rarebit:

Mushroom Rarebit

Ingredients:
4 large field mushrooms or horse mushrooms, peeled
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Worcesterchire sauce

Method:
Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour. Cook this mixture for about two minutes, ensuring that the flour doesn't burn. Add the mustard, Worcestershire sauce and the beer. Cook for about four minutes then begin adding the grated cheese little by little, ensuring that it does not burn on the bottom of the pan. Whilst the cheese is melting fry your mushrooms on the upper side (the side without gills) in a buttered frying pan. When the cheese has all melted turn the part-cooked mushroom over and carefully place on a grill pan before adding the cheese mixture on top of the uncooked side of the cap. Place back under the grill until the cheese has coloured a golden brown (personally I like to add a little paprika at this time)..

This recipe is reproduced, with permission, from the Mushroom Rarebit Recipe from the Celtnet Recipes Collection.

If you are interested in recipes for field mushrooms then you can find a range of field mushroom recipes.



Fat Hen Chenopodium album, (also known as: white goosefoot, lamb's quarters, lambsquarters, or pigweed) is a fast-growing, upright, weedy annual species of goosefoot, very common in temperate regions, growing almost everywhere in soils rich in nitrogen, especially on wasteland. It tends to grow upright at first, reaching heights of 30-80 cm, but typically becomes recumbent after flowering (due to the weight of the foliage and seeds) unless supported by other plants. It is a member of the Amaranthaceae (the Amaranth family) and like most of the plants in this family bears flowers on long spikes.

Fat Hen can be eaten as a vegetable, either steamed in entirety, or the leaves cooked like spinach as a leaf vegetable. Each plant produces tens of thousands of black seeds. These are very nutritious, high in protein, vitamin A, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium. In the past it was grown as a poultry feed (both seeds and leaves). Indeed, Fat Hen seeds are some of the most common seeds frund in prehistoric sites indicating widespread consumption of the plant during prehistoric times.

The recipe presented below is for a classic version of a bean fritter incorporating fat hen.

Savoury Bean Fritters

Ingredients:
120g butter
1 bunch of sorrel, chopped
70g chopped, roasted, hazelnuts
1 bunch of fat hen greens, chopped
1 handful of freshly-grated horseradish
500g processed Celtic Beans (see below)
1 egg
salt, to taste
flour, to bind (use strong wholemeal bread flour)

Method:
Melt a little butter in a pan and use to gently fry the sorrel, hazelnuts and fat hen until wilted. Take off the heat and transfer to a bowl. Mix in the horseradish and beans then add an egg. Stir to combine then season with salt and add just enough flour to bring the ingredients together as a stiff dough.

Shape the dough into rissoles, melt the butter in a large pan and use to fry the shaped rissoles until browned all over. These can be served either hot or cold.

To process Celtic Beans: Soak the beans over night then drain and place in a large pot. Cover with plenty of water, bring to a boil and cook for at least 3 hours. Cover, take off he heat and allow to cool in the water. You now need to remove hard skins from the beans. This can be done by rubbing the beans between your hands to slough-off the skin (as is done in Africa) but this is laborious and time-consuming. You can also grind the beans between two stones, or, if you're impatient dump the beans in a food processor and grind them there. Once you've ground the beans place in a bowl of water and let the skin pieces float to the top. Drain the beans and remove the skins. Your beans are now ready to use.


This recipe is reproduced, with permission, from the Savoury Bean Fritters Recipe from the Celtnet European Recipes Collection.

If you are interested in recipes for Fat Hen then you can find a range of fat hen recipes.

This guide is brought to you in conjunction with the Celtnet Wild Food Recipes collection.

You can find more wild foods beginning with the letter 'F' on the Wild Food Guide for the letter 'F', part of the Celtnet Wild Food Guide.

Wild Food Guide 'E'

Wild Foods Guide 'E'

This is the fifth of my series of 26 postings on wild foods. Each post will deal with a separate letter of the alphabet ('E' today) and will describe a wild food beginning with that letter as well as presenting a classic recipe incorporating that wild food.

Today I'm dealing with the letter 'E', the fifth letter of the English alphabet, which includes foods such as elderflower/elderberry, European Lime (Linden), European Strawberry and many others. Today, however I am going to devote this page to the elder (one of my favourite trees) and European Lime.


The Elder Tree (also known as elderberry) represent the flowers and the fruit of the black (or common) elder Sambucus nigra, native to Europe and western Asia. These are small trees which are classed as part of the Caprifoliaceae (honeysuckle) family, but which recent genetic evidence has shown to be part of the Adoxaceae (viburnum) family. This can grow to a tree reaching 15m tall, though more generally it grows as a large shrub (some 5–8m tall). Both the flowers and the berries are edible.

Elder flowers can either be used to create an infusion (elderflower cordial or wine) or they can actually be eaten themselves (elderflower firtters). It is best to pick the flowering heads when the flowers are open and full of pollen (it's the pollen that actually produces the flavour). If the flowers have begun to turn brown then they are past their best and have shed their pollen. These kinds of flowers should be discarded. The ripe fruit of the elder is also edible (although it is somewhat bitter, but a pinch of salt cures that problem) and can be made into wines or even baked into pies. You can also collect elderflower buds for pickling in vinegar and they make a decent substitute for capers.



The recipe blow is for a classic dish of a cheesecake made from elderflowers.

Elderflower Cheesecake

Ingredients:
1 22cm Pastry case
675g Cottage cheese
70g Sugar
3 Egg whites
2 tbsp Dried Elderfowers
1 tbsp Rosewater

Method:
Whisk the egg whites to the soft peak stage. Mix the cottage cheese, sugar, elderflowers and rosewater and blend thoroughly. Fold the whisked egg whites into the cheese mixture and pour the mixture into the pastry case. Place in an oven pre-heated to 190°C and bake for 45 minutes to an hour, or until filling has set and the crust is a golden brown.

Allow to cool before serving.

This recipe is reproduced, with permission, from the Elderflower Cheesecake Recipe from the Celtnet Recipes Collection.

If you are interested in recipes for bilberries then you can find a range of elderflower and/or elderberry recipes.



European Lime / Linden The European Lime, Linden, (also known as the European or Common Lime) Tilia x europaea (syn Tilia intermedia DC, Tilia officinarum Crantz, Tilia x vulgaris Hayne) is the European or common lime tree, also know as the Linden. In fact it's a hybrid between Tilia cordata (the Small-leaved lime) and Tilia platyphyllos (the Large-leaved lime) and occurs naturally wherever the two species grow together. As such, it's not truly native anywhere and often the fruit will not be viable.

It's sweet scent meant that it was extensively planted in European cities as an antidote to the 'foul airs' of the 18th and 19th centuries. Yet the linden or lime is now found throughout Britain and this makes it a valuable resource for the wild forager.

It's a large deciduous tree, typically growing from between 20m to 45m tall (with a canopy extending out about 35m) and can bear a trunk of up to 2m in diameter. The leaves are lenticulate, typically some 10cm long and 8cm broad and the underside is distinctly hairy, with more pronounced hairs on the leaf vein axis.

The tree bears hermaphroditic flowers (top, right) early in summer. Typically these are produced in clusters of between four and ten, with a leafy yellow-green subtending bract. The flowers themselves are very fragrant and can be used as a flavouring for alcohol or dried and used as a tea. However, some care should be taken as, if the flowers are picked when too old, they may produce the symptoms of narcotic intoxication.

The fruit (image, bottom right) is a nut-like drupe about 8mm in diameter with a downy surface that's faintly ribbed. The immature fruit has a chocolatey taste and is often nibbled by children. The mature fruit can be dried and used as a chocolate-flavoured coffee substitute or even a chocolate substitute.

The leaves, flowers and fruit are edible (but see the note above on the possible narcotic effects of old flowers) and the lime tree is an excellent resource for the wild forager. The younger leaves (when they are pale lime green and translucent) can be used as a salad vegetable or added to stews as a thickener. Slightly older leaves can be part-dried and used in stews.

The older leaves can be dried pulverized and when sifted the resultant powder can be used as a thickener for stews (in a similar manner to the African use of baobab leaves or American sassafras leaves). Powdered linden leaves also used to be used as a flour substitute or flour additive to make breads, cakes and porridge or pap. Indeed, it was used this way in France during the Second World War. The process is not exactly efficient, though, as 500g of fresh linden leaves will only yield 100g of linden leaf powder. Linden leaves do, however, contain a high percentage of invert sugars. As a result they are readily metabolized by diabetics and can be an useful addition to diabetic recipes.

The recipe presented below is for a classic version of a bread using dried and ground linen leaves as a flour substitute.

Linden Leaf Flour Bread

Ingredients:
136g linden leaf flour
544g strong bread flour flour
24g yeast
14g white sugar
60ml lukewarm water (for yeast)
340ml water (for dough)
13g salt
12g butter

Method:
Mix the yeast and white sugar into the 60ml water and leave in a warm place for 10 minutes to prove.

Combine the linden leaf flour, wheat flour and salt together and combine with the butter and the yeast mixture. Add the remaining water a little at a time until you have a smooth dough. Remove this from the bowl and tip onto a floured surface and knead thoroughly (for at least 5 minutes).

Roll the dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl. Cover with a damp cloth, place in a warm spot and allow to prove for at least 75 minutes, or until doubled in size. Knock the dough back and knead for a further 5 minutes then return to the bowl, cover and allow to prove for a further 45 minutes.

Knock back once more and divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Knead each dough piece well to remove any trapped air then press the two dough pieces into half-loaf tins. Press down well into the tin then cover the tins and allow the dough to raise for at least 45 minutes in a warm place (or until the dough has risen some 2cm over the top of the tins).

Place in an oven pre-heated to 210°C


This recipe is reproduced, with permission, from the Linden Leaf Flour Bread from the Celtnet Bread Recipes Collection.

If you are interested in recipes for European lime then you can find a range of dulse recipes.

This guide is brought to you in conjunction with the Celtnet Wild Food Recipes collection.

You can find more wild foods beginning with the letter 'E' on the Wild Food Guide for the letter 'E', part of the Celtnet Wild Food Guide.

Wild Food Guide 'D'

Wild Foods Guide 'D'

This is the fourth of my series of 26 postings on wild foods. Each post will deal with a separate letter of the alphabet ('D' today) and will describe a wild food beginning with that letter as well as presenting a classic recipe incorporating that wild food.

Today I'm dealing with the letter 'D', the fourth letter of the English alphabet, which includes foods such as dandelion, deadnettle, dock, dulse, dog rose and dwarf plume and many others. Today, however I am going to devote this page to dulse (one of my favourite seaweeds) and deadnettles.


There are three main kinds of edible deadnettles: the White Deadnettle, Red Deadnettle and Henbit deadnettle which are all members of the Lamium spp and belong to the Lamiaceae (mint) family of flowering herbaceous plants. They are all native throughout Europe and western Asia and north Africa and tend to grow in a variety of habitats from open grassland to woodland, generally on moist, fertile soils.

The leaves of all the Lamium species are superficially similar to those of stinging nettles (Urtica dioica) but do not sting  hence they are described as 'dead'. When not in flower, the deadnettles are all very similar to one another, but the white deadnettle bears white flowers, the red deadnettle bears red to purple flowers and the henbit deadnettle bears pink flowers.

The young shoots and leaves of these plants are edible and, once washed, can be simply cooked by adding to frying pan with a knob of butter some spring onions and plenty of seasoning. When sautéed for ten minutes they are ready to consume. Ideally finish with a twist of fresh nutmeg and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice before serving. The tops of young plants can also be used in salads or can be stir-fried as a spring vegetable.



The recipe blow is for a classic dish of fried deadnettle, incorporating all deadnettle types.

Fried Herbed Deadnettle

Ingredients:
350g deadnettle leaves and flowers (any of henbit deadnettle, white deadnettle and red deadnettle [or a mix] will work)
60g butter
small bunch of chives, shredded
2 garlic clives, minced
a few sprigs of thyme, finely chopped
2 sprigs mint, leaves shredded
1 medium onion, finelt chopped
salt and black pepper, to taste

Method:
Melt the butter in a frying pan then add the onion and garlic and fry until the onion becomes soft. Add the herbs then shredd the deadnettle leaves and add these. Fry for a few minutes until the leaves have wilted then add the deadnettle flowers. Fry for a minute then season and serve immediately.

This recipe is reproduced, with permission, from the Fried Herbed Deadnettle Recipe from the Celtnet Recipes Collection.

If you are interested in recipes for bilberries then you can find a range of deadnettle recipes.



Dulse as a wild food Dulse, Palmaria palmata, (also known as Purple Laver, Dillisk, Dilysg or Creathnach) is is a red alga that grows along the northern coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, where it is a traditional food. It grows attached attached to rocks by a holdfast and is commonly used in Ireland and Atlantic Canada both as food and medicinally.

Dulse grows from the mid-tide portion of the intertidal zone (the area between the high tide and low tide) and into deep water. Fronds may vary from rose to reddish-purple, and range from about 20 to 40 cm. From June through September, it is picked by hand at low water, brought to drying fields (or spreading grounds) and put through a shaker to remove snails, shell pieces, etc. The fronds are spread thinly on netting and left to dry, turned once and rolled into large bales to be packaged or ground later. Sun-dried dulse is eaten as is or is ground to flakes or a powder. It can also be pan fried quickly into chips, baked in the oven covered with cheese with salsa, or simply microwaved briefly. It can also be used in soups, chowders, sandwiches and salads, or added to bread/pizza dough. Fresh dulse can be eaten directly off the rocks before sun-drying.

Dulse (known in Welsh as dilysg) occurs in the Mabinogi of Math mab Mathnowy as one of the things that the enchater, Math uses to construct a boat.


The recipe presented below is for a classic version of Welsh Rarebit that incorporates Dulse as a main ingredient.

Dulse Welsh Rarebit

Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Worcesterchire sauce
½ tsp black pepper
60ml porter beer
200g Cheddar cheese
25g dulse, finely chopped
sliced bread

Method:
Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour. Cook this mixture for about two minutes, ensuring that the flour doesn't burn. Add the mustard, Worcestershire sauce the dulse and the beer. Cook for about four minutes then begin adding the grated cheese little by little, ensuring that it does not burn on the bottom of the pan. Whilst the cheese is melting slice your bread and toast on one side under the grill. When the cheese has all melted turn the part-toasted bread over and add the cheese mixture on top of the uncooked side of the bread. Place back under the grill until the cheese has coloured a golden brown (personally I like to add a little paprika at this time).


This recipe is reproduced, with permission, from the Dulse Welsh Rarebit from the Celtnet Welsh Recipes Collection.

If you are interested in recipes for dulse then you can find a range of dulse recipes.

This guide is brought to you in conjunction with the Celtnet Wild Food Recipes collection.

You can find more wild foods beginning with the letter 'D' on the Wild Food Guide for the letter 'D', part of the Celtnet Wild Food Guide.