Wild Food to Pick in May and June
A quick pre-June seasonal food update…
This is an in-between shopping guide to food before the start of June. With soaring food prices it is important that chefs and consumers look towards other sources for their weekly shop. Wild food is on our doorstep and although it won’t sustain a family it is worthwhile knowing that a simple meal can be gleaned from a natural resource.
Wild garlic is almost at an end now so for those of you who like foraging for your food you should be looking out for wild watercress which is peppery and superb when picked whilst the plants are still quite young.
Wood sorrel should start to appear quite soon, it is a useful addition to a salad and visually it adds an interesting dimension to your dish. Sweet Cicely is another favourite and is in plentiful supply.
Now is a good time for some mixed mushrooms, try a handful of St George’s with a few mousserons and girolles simply fried in olive oil and a little garlic. Alexanders are still around but be careful what you pick as there is a near identical plant which is highly toxic.
Towards the coast you should find good supplies of sea purslane and sea lettuce. Try your hand with a fishing rod because now is the time for wild salmon and turbot, if you can’t catch any then be prepared to pay around £20 per kilo!
Miles
this is an area I would like to get into.
The idea appeals on so many levels.
Obviously I need to learn a bit but I wonder just how much fresh and free food there is within walking distance of my house - presumably quite a bit
Rod
May 29, 2008 @ 7:54 am
Rod,
I think you would be pleasantly suprised at what can be found close to your own home, it’s just knowing what to look for.
Miles
May 29, 2008 @ 4:07 pm
Hola Miles!
I’m back from Barcelona and ready to give both a culinary and a shoe report …. which one do you want first?
Cid
May 29, 2008 @ 5:47 pm
Cid,
Welcome home! Hope you enjoyed Barcelona, best get the shoe report out of the way
Miles
May 29, 2008 @ 8:27 pm
Miles,
Since you insist here is the Catalan shoe report…..
What is it about the Mediterranean that brings on the irresistible desire to purchase yellow patent (or worse still, multi coloured) shoes? The force can only be overcome by actually trying a pair on and realising that they neither fit nor look fabulous on a pale Lincolnshire foot
Such was my dilemma this week, only to be repeated on the next trip no doubt. You may be pleased to know that the aforementioned Jesus sandal remains mainly in the Spanish plains and not in my wardrobe. What next then I hear you say…. well, there was a white patent scholl which only escaped due to it’s ridiculously high cost (I could have eaten several meals at El Bulli for as many euros!) and the fact that a lime green pair currently resides in my private collection 
So, to round off, it was all patent and no suede… lots of rubber heels (most disconcerting I thought and obviously why Spanish women look so abnormally bouncy 
)
On arrival at Amsterdam airport I narrowly missed the urge to purchase a pair of decorative wooden clogs … just thought your readers ought to know because they must all be wondering …
Cid
p.s. bag and frock report by request only
Brace yourself for the culinary report tomorrow….
May 29, 2008 @ 9:57 pm
Cid,
Phew! Women and shoes hey, like tomatoes and basil
Nice to see you back on local terroir.
Miles
May 30, 2008 @ 7:30 am
Miles,
I have recently been told and shown that one can eat young leaves from Lime trees and in the early morning with the dew on put your hands upwards to the tops of flowering elderberry, squeeze them together and eat!
Sadly we seem to have lost the knowledge of what can be eaten around us. Bring it on to the national curriculum!
Elsie
June 5, 2008 @ 8:15 pm
Elsie,
Lime used to be very popular, I have read of the young leaves used as a sandwich filling. Best of all is their use as an infusion, the French call tea made with lime ’tilleul’ and it is quite superb.
Miles
June 5, 2008 @ 9:33 pm