Fruit leathers are simple. You can throw in whatever mixture of hedgerow fruits you come home with, and no need to weigh or time anything. All you need is fruit and sugar or honey to taste to make a delicious, healthy, long-lasting treat that will cheer up any walk or forage with an intense fruit hit.
One of the very best ways to taste the vibrant shoots, leaves, and flowers of spring is in wild sushi. Many of the fresh, zinging flavours and health-giving properties of green plants such as wild garlic and sea kale are lost in cooking. Rolling them in nori seaweed sheets with sticky rice and serving with condiments is easy, great fun and makes for the most spectacular finger-food I could imagine.
No matter how hard I try when serving my wild food tasting menus, this elderberry vinegar always steals the show when served as a simple wild salad dressing. It is fruity, thick and very sweet, with a depth of flavour that puts it on a par with, if not beyond, the very finest balsamic vinegars. It actually got a “wow” from the team at Andrew Fairlie’s restaurant at Gleneagles…
I would choose this as my last meal. It is simply perfect and perfect simplicity. You just need to ensure that your ceps are young, firm and crisp, with a texture almost like tender coconut. These are just too fine and rare for cooking and should be celebrated in all their glorious, raw simplicity. And don’t penny-pinch on the parmesan!
Japanese knotweed is a tasty, healthy food that can be harvested in large amounts for use as a vegetable and in drinks, desserts and savoury dishes. There are however some serious things to consider if you intend to harvest it…