Beech Leaf Noyau *UPDATE*
(Fagus sylvatica)
Just a quick update on a lovely summers 😫 day of my beech leaf noyau - and can confirm it’s a wonderful amaretto style drink. Closest to Disaronno in my opinion. Might make a Beech Leaf Noyau Sour for a welcome cocktail at upcoming events.
INGREDIENTS (flag this for next spring)
700ML GIN
(you choose - I’m not fussy but undoubtedly there will be differences)
YOUNG FRESH BEECH LEAVES
(enough to fill the jar without packing down too hard)
125ML BRANDY
(added after 3-4 week infusion)
SUGAR
(Approx 150g - but to taste - I like to use a mix of white sugar and Demerara in equal quantities)
DIRECTIONS
Pick the freshest tangiest leaves and fill the jar without packing it down. Add the gin and store in a dark cupboard for 3-4 weeks. Strain out the solution (hopefully still quite green but not the end of the world if not) and place back in the now empty jar and top up with brandy and sugar. Mix till sugar is dissolved and wait 2 weeks before tasting. That’s it and the result is a wonderful Amaretto (Disaronno is the brand I mentioned) style drink.
Always drink responsibly
#wildflavours #beech #beechleaf #leaf #leaves #beechleafnoyau #wildsubstitutions #amaretto #disaronno #drinks #infusions #booze #wildbooze #foragedbooze #drinks #drinkresponsibly #flavours #wildflavours #foragedflavour #pip #noyau #almondy #flavours #cocktails #ice #summer #fire #british #notfootball
🌱Water Pepper aka arse smart🌱
(Persicaria hydropiper)
*2023 video. Weather also wet and raincoat on……
This is a very common plant found around freshwater and watery ditches. It is in the same family as Vietnamese coriander (Persicaria odorata).
Persicaria is genus of herbaceous plants flowering plants known as the knotweeds or smartweeds. There are different varieties all over the world. The lance shaped leaves that have fine hairs along the edge are alternatively arranged coming off at sheathed nodes on the self supporting stems which can also shoot off at the nodes with new stems.
As there are many types of Persicaria and many hybrids it’s important to point out there aren’t any dangerous lookalikes. A number have a darker spot on the leaves like the most common Redshank (Persicaria maculosa) but this prefers drier areas. Once the pink flowers are out Water Pepper has far more of a droop on the flowers that Redshank. But in my opinion it’s easier to give the leaf a little nibble.
As with all freshwater plants pick above the water line and use to finish dishes. I love using in sauces, green oils, pickled walnut pesto and as a substitute for Vietnamese coriander.
* WARNING: There is a plant we need to ensure it’s not being Dog’s Mercury (Mercurialis perennis). It doesn’t have the long lance leaves although they are lanceolate shaped so much wider and fatter. Dogs mercury also has serrations on the leaves that are very crowded at the top. By now the flowers will have died back (flowers in spring). It is a toxic plant. In my opinion looks entirely different but is so common in woodlands, hedgerows or anywhere shady. This plant is normally picked when people are gathering carelessly especially in Wild Garlic season. So as I have always said ID everything properly.
#waterpepper #persicariahydropiper #persicaria #polygonum #arsesmart #wildleaf #vietnamesecoriander #wildplants #wildfood #damp #ditch #outdoors #greens #foraging #forager #u
🌱🌳🦦BEING OUTDOORS🦦☘️🧚
Being outdoors is proven to be good for your mental health. It’s a place I love to decompress. We have lost our connection and are drastically out of balance with nature…. the evidence is clear.
As humans, our senses were developed first to assist us in hunting and gathering. Our perception of colour helped us pick the ripest fruit and tell the poisonous from the tastiest berries. The powerful link between smell and memory helped us remember those plants we had eaten safely before, and those we had been taught to fear. Your body hasn’t forgotten this: wild plants still provide a vivid and delicious feast for the senses.
* always identify properly if looking to consume or understand effects plants/fungi
#getoutdoors #beingoutdoors #outdoors #woodland #rivers #birds #bugs #buzz #breathe #woodlands #plants #fungi #fruits #shoots #seeds #roots #water #life #nature #dragonfly #magical #spells #history
VEGAN ROAST “CHICKEN”
CHICKEN OF THE WOODS aka sulphur shelf
(Laetiporus sulphureus)
Blows my mind that this video is nearly 10years old (I’ve had to edit it - find The Foragers Channel on YouTube for the old stuff). Been reminiscing about older videos lately and processes for cooking up ingredients. So I’m gonna bring that all back soon with a new shiny style of content on here and YouTube once I’ve got my head around the kit.
This fungus is out all over and I love to describe it as this yellow alien brains exploding from trees. We shaped it into a real chicken shape and roasted it to see if we could recreate a classic roast on this meaty chicken-texture like fungus. It was great.
Known for its meatiness high protein content along with a huge amount of benefits. As with most wild fungi it must be cooked and there is always a risk as some do get gastric upset from this. In my experience it’s 1 in 100+ but many sources say 1 in 10…. If you want to try something you haven’t had before cook a small piece well once you’ve done all the appropriate ID checks.
New 🥁 from @rich_t_dj 🙏
#chickenofthewoods #laetiporussulphureus #fungi #funghi #fungus #spring #yellow #orange #tree #blacklocust #robiniapseudoacacia #tree #fungusamongstus #outdoors #brain #chicken #vegan #mushroom #plantbased #walks #foraging #foragedfood #wildflavour #flavourforager #forage #flavourfred
👌🏻📅FLAVOUR FRED SUMMER ON TOAST📅👌🏻
*early summer 2023
Last week I wanted to make the most of the some of the ingredients I love to collect at this time of year. Obviously I couldn’t help myself adding in my ferments, marinades and pretty much always have a wild yeast sourdough on hand.
With my trusty hand blender, asparagus and some butter it felt right to knock up an extra special lunch. Most of the ingredients I’ll be putting into another selection of videos.
I blitzed & cooked up unfurled hogweed flowers, trimmed thistle tops, water-mint & asparagus in some butter. Seasoning with my fermented wild garlic, Morel & St George’s mushroom salt before adding some chopped asparagus and unfurled hogweed flowers once more for extra texture. Time to add some dryads saddle that’s if marinated in wild leaf chermoula a few days prior.
Loved it.
#dish #mushroomsontoast #chermoula #saltlife #salty #mushroom #fungus #herbs #toast #dish #outdoor #blended #blendit #blender #green #food #summer #hobs #cooking #flavour #wild #foraged #foragedflavour #old #video
🧚FOXGLOVE 🦊🧤
(Digitalis purpurpea)
A beautiful well known plant is flowering now on the fringes of woodlands, gardens and many other spaces with its wonderful flowers that bees nestle into to gather the nectar capture my attention. Loves more acidic soil.
In spring the leaves start off low to the ground, are oval shaped, hairy with a toothed margin on the ground in a rosette not to be confused with primrose, comfrey & mullein when young given foxglove is poisonous. Once the flower spikes they can get up and just over 2m with purple flowers (some white and other varieties exist) with darker spots on the bottom of the flower. A massive and very important pollinator.
Many stories around where the name comes from as mentioned throughout the video although it is unclear exactly where. A corruption of “folkslore”, used on the paws of foxes to keep them dry which was told to them by faeries 🧚 (anglo-Saxon) or even as a necklace of bells to keep hunters and hounds away (Norse folklore). More sources listed in comments
The plant is a source of digitalis and the source of the compound digoxin. A cardiac glycosides used to control some heart problems and irregular heart beats. Hence its use in herbalism as a heart tonic. If you go and eat this plant you are basically taking an unregulated dose of heart medicine which I could be fatal. Also used as a poison by some.
I love it
#foxglove #digitalispurpurpea #folksglove #witchesglove #digoxin #plants #woodlands #outdoors #pollination #bees #flowers #green #purple #nature #poison #medicine #fairies #fairy #fae #fey #faeries #stories #riddles #magical #woodland #creature
Sea Kale
Crambe Maritima
* please note this plant is protected in many places. Please check bye laws and although getting landowner permission often seems like a dubious topic. I’m certainly not going out there to devastate plants and ecologies. With regard to this plant I’ll leave that to the need for gravel, urbanisation and other impacts that may or may not be required…
A very tasty special coastal plant with tasty crunchy leaves, very beautiful purple shoots in early spring and for a very short window tasty seed pods that pop like a pea/grape when eaten (tasting like pea x cabbage). Thought it’s not listed as a rare plant it certainly seems to have taken a hit in a number of areas where the decline of the colonies is down to fluctuating environments (serious winter storms by the coast) and also demands for building and gravel extraction as well as deferences, etc
Found growing on shorelines means it’s a hardy enough to deal with weather and salinity where the roots are gnarly tough (obviously not to be dug up). Getting its nutrition from the decomposition of seaweed at high drift lines amongst other things. These need to be stable for a long period of time (5-20 years, 5 years to settle in and flower stated). Very rarely spreading inland although some have trained to grow in gardens. I love this perennial brassica that grows wild around the coasts of Europe, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Black Sea (again in decline in a number of areas but also significant rises in populations). Used by many including the Greeks and cultivated since the 16th Century. Boasting many health benefits as well as being eaten to prevent scurvy, boost the immune system and improve metabolism.
#seakale #crambemaritima #coast #coastalplants #protectedplants #crunchy #tangy #healthy #nature #respect #responsibility #permission #food #food? #coastal #walks #getoutdoors #outdoors #walks #sea #seaside #walking
Meadowsweet AKA Queen of the Meadow, Meadsweet or Mead Wort
(Filipendula ulmaria)
Repost from 2023 (mid July with a raincoat on…)
The shimmering glow of meadowsweet flowers looking like lightbulbs in the distance helps me spot on of my favourite ingredients with its haze of pale creamy/yellow swiftly followed by the strong aroma.
As a flavour there is mixed opinions as there certainly is a strong Germolene™️ scent but when used correctly it’s a great ingredient. Personally I love the strong perfume of vanilla that comes the flowers and the leaves have a cucumber like flavour so I often used for raita, tzatziki and cacik or other items that may use cucumber freshness.
Meadowsweet AKA Queen of the Meadow, Meadsweet or Mead Wort makes it pretty clear it’s been used historically to flavour mead but also wines, beers and more. I’ve made another wild side with it and it’s seriously active just 2/3weeks after infusion. It’s the same process for making “Sham”pagne if you want to look that up. Anyway it’s wild flavours, sweetener and wild yeast fermented in clean sterilised vessels.
When looking for Meadowsweet it loves a damp meadow. The giveaway red stem and a lot smaller leafs in between the larger bi-lateral leaves on each stem along with the aromas makes it a difficult one to get wrong.
This plant is also packed with Salicylic acid. Some may know this as a treatment for those with oily skin. But more noteworthy is that Acetylsalicylic acid can be synthesised from Salicylic acid and is more commonly known as Aspirin. This was done by Felix Hoffmann in 1897 for Bayer Pharmaceutical. The compound is found in Willow bark called salicin and the name comes from the Latin for Willow which is Salix.
#meadowsweet #queenofthemeadow #meadwort #meadsweet #filipendulaulmaria #hackneymarshes #wildflavour #flavour #introduction #wildplants #ID #ukforaging #hackney #foraginguk #georgefredenham #flavourfred #flowers #meadow #london #uk
Common Mallow
(Malva sylvestris)
As the name suggests this incredibly common large plant right now can be seen in most verges with its distinctive pink flowers. In my opinion it goes quite under-utilised especially given the uses for a number of other plants in this family (Malvaceae) that we use a lot.
One is called Jute Mallow which is used in many dishes (mentioned in the video Molokhia & Green Shakshuka) along with many others. I was told about a Tunisian use where it’s made into a powder by roasting the leaves and then used in stew type dishes that I’ll be trying soon.
I love the texture this plant brings and the entire mallow family have this interesting texture and ability to thicken as it’s quite mucilaginous, especially in the root. The original marshmallow was made from the root of the Marsh Mallow (now a protected plant in the UK) a delicacy sort after in Egyptian times made with the root and honey. Nowadays the marshmallow is very different going through stages of being made fluffy thanks to the folding in of whipped egg whites then gelatine was used and now synthetic. These are the things I find a little crazy. Anyway…
Nowadays I use it all the time and add to my bouquet garni when I want to thicken a stew or soup over and above the other methods mentioned.
* yes I wash my ingredients before cooking. Just preempting a few responses here. As you should from ingredients in supermarkets. Farms have wild animals and humans have dirty hands half the time.
#malvasylvestris #malva #commonmallow #uses #recipes #ingredients #flowers #muave #malvaceae #green #leaves #shakshuka #molakhiasoup #soup #thick #outdoors #plants #foraging #flavourfred #outdoors #parks #walks #history #green #plant #recipe #food #stickiness #thickness
BURDOCK
(Arctium minus / Arctium lappa)
Most people think of the fermented root drink Dandelion & Burdock when mentioning this very common plant. The fermented drink started its life off as a mead light mead back in the Middle Ages. Nowadays a carbonated soft drink.
The root is often sought after especially in hunter gatherer times due to its carb content when compared to what else was available. It has a tap root that can be up to 1.5m so a valuable find. Be careful though as depending on where it grows you could expel more calories getting it out of the ground than are within it. Hence finding sandy soils or turning soils regularly makes collection easier…. leading to farming I imagine.
Nowadays when I collect I often will ask organic farmers as it grows so commonly on the sides of fields. However if you were in Japan it is farmed and is called “Gobo” and praised for its dense nutrients and anti-oxidants. I had it braised, fried, sliced extremely thing and pounded into a pulp. The main issue is it’s quite fibrous so cutting across the root is advised. The best time is at the end of the plants first year end of summer and before it bolts in spring.
The leaves are useful to cook in but bitter so I lay more fragrant leaves within and use to steam “en papillote” style when cooking outdoors.
I would also say it’s probably the best wild toilet paper out there.
#burdock #articum #articumlappa #articumminus #wildplants #roots #shoots #leaves #taproot #huntergatherer #carbs #rootcarbs #carbohydrates #nocarbsbeforemarbs #cooking #leaf #bitter #bolt #shoot #seeds #burrs
🫙ELDERFLOWER GIN🍾
quick recipe
The fastest of infusions meaning a flavourful elderflower drink to have ready by the weekend although I do like it to mellow out a bit myself.
Grab your elderflowers and a bottle of gin on your way home. Infuse in a jar for 3 days (longer than that and there will@be some bitterness. Strain it and sugar it to taste.
I used a mix of elderflower and ornamental elder know as ‘Black Lace’
Drink responsibly
#elderflower #gin #flavour #season #seasonal #sambucasnigra #blacklace #sambucasnigrablacklace #drinks #cocktails #ideas #recipes #tricks #quick #infusion #elder #gindrinker #wilddrinks #wildflavours #cocktails #wheresthesun #june #drink
🌹💐 DOG ROSE PETAL CHEONG 💐🌹
Cheong is a Korean method of using sugar and time generally to preserve fruit. I’ve used this method for many items and have loved the results. Noticing the cross-overs with other cultures like making fermented pine cone syrup like the traditional 🇮🇹 throat soothing syrup Mugolio at the moment.
I’ve been wanting to try the process with rose petals for a while since trying it with rosehips last year which was fantastic. Very keen to try and set this later in the year once it’s developed like a Turkish delight using the dog rose petals. A lot of the time heat is used to make syrups and a lot of flavour is changed or lost. That is why I love this method.
The dog rose / wild rose (Rosa canina) is a thorny climber that you’ll find working it’s way through much of the hedgerow growing as much as 3m high if it’s found enough support. It’s leaves grow on alternate sides of the stem and divide into toothed leaflets. It’s also affected by a gall called robins pin cushion which I did a video on towards the end of last year looking like Pom poms set amongst the leaves caused by a gall wasp.
Right now the flowers are showing off their 5 white and pink petals which have a nice delicate floral aroma. I’m looking for the the pollinated ones. This is easy to tell as the anther which is sat on top of many stamen will look brown. These will forming the rose-hip already (as shown) so I’m happy to gather these petals and leaving those not pollinated for the bees to do their thing. After pollination the petal will fall or turn brown.
Gathering a jar of the petals and adding the sugar (normally equal weight but this is best 2 parts rose petal to 1 part sugar) is the most normal method but given water content of different ingredients. Working on a bay leaf method that’s a little challenging but will update on that.
I’ll be keeping an eye on this one over the next few weeks and will be using it on my flavour le
☘️Wood Sorrel ☘️
(Oxalis acetosella)
You’ll find this all year round in shady parts of woodlands and on various dishes when dining out. It’s an edible tangy number that has the same compound as sorrel in it (Oxalic acid - also rhubarb). The lovely heart shaped leaves that have fine hairs with a central stem that goes to a deep red/purple (varies).
Its tang also gives away its high vitamin C content and has been used against scurvy.
Oxalic acid should be consumed in moderation for a number of reasons one is it bonds with calcium and can form kidney stones. To do this you would need huge amounts (500g+ in one sitting) of this and to put it into perspective oxalic acid is in many many things including chocolate and coffee where there is no warning.
I love it and I love its ability to make you salivate whether in a woodland or sat down enjoying food. As shown and mentioned here from @anthonyraffo @anglorestaurant where many of the photos featured are from previous menu items. We will get those listed in due course.
#woodsorrel #oxalisacetosella #dish #food #garnish #tang #zing #oxalicacid #notsorrel #oxalistriangularis #oxalis #flavour #woodland #walks #getoutdoors #woods #flavour #flavourforager #food #drink #walking #trees #green #plant
🧚♀️🧚Green Elf Cup / Green Wood Cup🧚🧚♀️
(Chlorociboria aeruginascens)
This incredibly beautiful Green Elf Cup is found on dead branches turning the wood a turquoise as it permeates the wood. It’s a great indicator of the work being done my the funghi as the branching mass of hair-like hyphae cells known as mycelium decay the substrate and shows it off with its wonderful colour.
The fruiting bodies resemble cups and obviously woodland elves use them like goblets to drink out of.
The Funghi kingdom is split into two basic groups being basidiomycetes and ascomycetes. Basidiomycetes form and release their spores from on specialised cells called basidia. These are found on the underside of gills and toadstools as well as from pores on boletes & brackets. Ascomycetes produce their spores from “asci” that cover their spore releasing surface. So here on the surface of the cups you will find asci which are best thought of as a sack of spores that release when ready.
Scarlet brought me this turquoise stunner when I was out looking for chicken of the woods … dressed appropriately.
Photos from @markcocksedge for @ryezine_magazine & @suelaceyphotography @woodoaksfarm
#greenelfcup #chlorocyboriaaeruginascens #greenwoodcup #fungi #funghi #cup #cupfungus #spores #ascomycetes #asci #foraging #saprophytic #forage #outdoors #nature #deadwood #decay #green #turquoise #fairies #faeries #woodland #beauty #woods #walks #dog #colours #turquoise #forage #outdoors #getoutdoors
RECIPE - SMOKEY COURGETTE BABA GANOUSH
** RE-POSTED FROM JUNE 2022 **
As we approach the abundance of this ingredient I thought I’d share my favourite recipe ahead of the season.
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Courgettes are abundant right now and they are fantastic alternative to aubergine for baba ganoush. It’s relatively simple as long as you can blister the skins on a bbq, open fire or in this case a @gozney pizza oven.
Burning the skins allows the smokiness to penetrate the flesh whilst steaming and cooking the inside. Once soft the inside flesh can be scooped out, drained, then mixed with lemon juice, raw tahini and seasoning.
It’s a great accompaniment to many other elements and here I used it with French beans with red onion, ezme salad and a rice salad. As well as at the start of the reel with salted summer fruits being gooseberry, blackcurrants and redcurrants. Enjoy!
#courgette #babaganoush #vegetables #plantbased #recipe #food #fruits #fire #smokiness #flavour #flavourfred #cooking #outdoors #tipsandtricks #lovefood #seasonal #seasonalfood #eatyourveggies #tahini #lemon #juice #gooseberry #redcurrant #redcurrants #blackcurrant #blackcurrants
Elderflower “Sham”pagne 🥂
*Old video but a good one from 2022
Time to make the most of this great seasonal drink and I’ve tried a huge amount of recipes over the years. Truth is have a play around and see what works for you. I also like to try and pick high and in a clean open space on a sunny day. I place them upside down on a clean surface to let the bugs crawl away.
In the video I have used a 30 litre food-grade drum but essentially the recipe is as follows. Always be as clean as possible we don’t want any nasties in there messing up your brew
For every 1 litre filtered water
10 large elderflower heads (stalks picked as best as possible)
250g sugar
2 oranges
2 lemons
(Please see my Tepache post previously for another fun use)
Place into a clean container in a dark space for 10 days. During this period the yeast will eat the sugar and assist in the infusing of the flavours.
Depending on the container it may need burping as the pressure builds up. Its also why I don’t use glass but you can use a kilner with a tap which is nice as its visible. Burping is essential though!
After which when you open the container you will notice the build up of taste and if it tastes sour that means it has fermented nicely and at this point it may reach 2%abv.
Pour into a capped bottle and depending on the desired sweetness you add a little more sugar. This will continue ferment and under pressure in the bottle become sparkling so if it tastes too sweet it will level out the longer you leave it. And become more alcoholic.
The left over oranges and lemons can also, be made into a marmalade or sauce which I will put out in due course.
Enjoy
* Due to the ingredients, rules and regulations regarding Champagne legally this does not have the appellation status to be a Champagne so its a “Sham”pagne. That’s my appellation for all my naturally fermented wild sparking drinks from here on in.👍
#forage #forager #eattheseasons #elderflowerchampagn
🍍🌱PINEAPPLE WEED & ELDERFLOWER TEPACHE (+ friends) 🌱🍍
*Re-post June 2023
Tepache is a popular drink in Central America dating back to the Mayans and essentially is a natural soda fermented from pineapple, amongst other ingredients.
A true journey into a foragers mind right here. I started off wanting to use Pineapple weed (introduced species of chamomile) to make a wild Tepache. But I lost my way and used all the wild ingredients I could find. This experiment is more of a wild soda than a Tepache but I imagine these changes and substitutions are the birth of many other recipes. Anyhow…
Given the aroma of pineapple from pineapple weed (Matricaria discoidea) I just had to try the substitution and that’s were my mind started to get lost in wild flavou. Elderflowers are out now so that just made sense quickly followed by larch cones and sweet woodruff. I felt like I’d completed the ingredients list so headed home to get the fermentation going with the wild yeast all over everything I’d collected and using my noble fir molasses for the sugar.
So this is no longer a Tepache experiment but a wild soda substitute. It tastes great and I’ll be sure to make another video with the process but very happy with the fresh flavour at present weirdly reminded me of cherry coke for a second. Just gonna see how it develops.
#wildsoda #tepache #ferment #fermentation #pineappleweed #matricariadiscoidea #elderflower #larch #cones #woodruff #sweedwoodruff #abiesnobilis #drinks #outdoors #flavour #foraging #flavourfred #wildyeast #forager #foraging
Japanese Knotweed
(Reynoutria japonica)
I generally steer people away from foraging for Japanese Knotweed (aka Donkey Rhubarb). It’s not that it’s not tasty I just believe if it’s not understood properly with the risks then having it in a menu for only fashionable reasons is not that cool.
First introduced by German-British botanic Philipp Franz von Siebold in the 19th century as an ornamental plant. And I will agree it is a very beautiful plant with these broad arrow head shape leaves unfurling like the start of a spear bursting from the ground or to me a Japanese dragon. As it grows to around 2m the hollow stems become more fibrous and the leaves are predominantly green. Lots of oxalic acid (like rhubarb) also means eating large quantities uncooked is a risk for a couple reasons, one of which is kidney stones.
This invasive species is always a cause for concern as any home owners will have a clause in a mortgage given the damage it can do. Japanese Knotweed has the ability to exploit cracks in concrete and continue to find ways through doing damage as it seeks out moisture for growth. It’s ability to break through foundations comes from the fact that it is a pioneering plant native to Japan where it is the first plant to come up after eruptions of volcanoes. Once this plant is in an environment it’s very hard to get rid of as its rhizomes can go 3 meters deep and stretch up to 7 meters, easily sprouting, growing from the exposed shoots at its base and just wants to take over aggressively destroying significant habitats and edges of rivers/waterways.
You’ll find it listed under Section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. If it is on your land you can also be enforced to remove it (£10,000 cost) or get fined and even worse sent to prison. Removal of Japanese Knotweed is a big business as well. That always makes me wonder who got those contracts for the required accreditations.
* PLEASE READ ON IN COMMENTS - NOT ENOUGH SPACE *
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