The entertainments of London are many and varied, but I’d not previously considered a foraging party amid parks and wastelands of south London, followed by a cookup and fine lunch as one of the possibilities. (Thanks Darren!)
I now know better. Nettles – yes I knew about those – I’ve made nettle soup (a recipe roughly like this, from young sping nettles in France), although it wouldn’t have occurred to me to make nettle pakora (you could base it around a recipe like this – but really now I realise that you could use nettles in virtually any recipe that calls for cooked spinach.
And as we discussed – nettles are nutrient-packed and every bit as deserving of the title “superfood” as lots of expensively promoted, high cost foreign foods you see in supermarkets.
Now I wonder why it is that they aren’t so well promoted ….!
The only warning is that with mature nettles you should only take the top few leaves – the bottom ones can accumulate crystals not good for the liver.
The other really magic ingredient was elderflower blossom … we didn’t actually make elderflower champagne, but we had a very good taste of it – and very nice (and very alcoholic) it was too!
We did have elderflower blossom fritters (well unfortunately I couldn’t because they had a flour – hence gluten – batter – but these went down a treat with everyone else, and I’m reckoning on perhaps giving them a go with rice flour). Basically dip a spray of blossom on the batter, fry, cover with lemon juice and sprinkle with icing sugar.
The greatest surprise ingredient, for not just its presence, but its ubiquity, was rocket… growing, once you knew what to look for, practically everywhere!
Eaten raw, or lightly cooked – we had it in a salad wiith a little fat hen, and with some raw elderflower, and lime tree flowers (not lime as in citrus, what I’ll call British lime for want of a better term.
Much less common – but certainly good size when found – was also fennel.
We also made a couple of great teas – lavendar – take blossom, immerse in boiling water for a few minutes and drink, and surprisingly pleasant it is too. And also the slightly unfortunately named pineapple weed – a close relative of camomile, although with a distinct pineapple juice flavour.
I’ll be walking around London with new eyes now…
(The obvious warning – don’t eat things unless you really know what they are – and if you do make a mistake, don’t blame me!)
July 19, 2010 at
Great article! I always wanted to do something with the elderflower blossoms on the Elder tree in my garden but never got around to it. The tree has been cut down now so that is a shame. Wild mint growing in the alley behind my house, nothing beats fresh mint.
Honestly enjoyed reading this. Send me an email if you go on another foraging party, I would love to come.