So what are you foraging this month?
The beginning of Spring, shoots budding out, annual plants pushing there way out of the warming soil. Grass taking on that lushness which makes you want to go and buy some fresh organic butter
Here, we are in the south of France, in a department called the Aveyron, yet not with the same warmer, temperatures as the Med coast. The village is at 450m above sea-level and local hills up over 1,400m. So our weather tends to be colder and drier in winter and hotter and drier in summer, with a short spring and autumn transition. It tends to be 2-3 weeks behind the UK in the Spring but heats up quicker when it comes.
This year everything is late here, with it still being in a cold snap and snow still falling on the hills above 1200m; but I can just feel all the plants bursting with sap, ready to explode into life, and paint the valley every shade of green at the merest hint of warm sunlight
So far for some fairly limited walks it has been Chickweed (Stellaria media) for the salads together with young Hawthorn (Crateagus monogyna) shoots (or what we called 'bread 'n no cheese' as kids) for salad and general snack out walking; young Nettles (Urtica dioca) for soup and stew and tea; Wild Garlic (Allium ursinum. 'Lail des ours' or 'Bears Garlic' as they call it in France) and Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata, jack-in-the-hedgrow etc popping up nicely for those great flavours, leaves rubbed on toasted crusty bread sprinkled with some coarse sea salt, olive oil and rubbed with tomato for a nice quick croustini. Makes great pesto too
Wild Garlic Pesto
Ingredients:
1 large handful wild garlic leaves, well washed and patted dry
(as an option add a touch of wild mint and/or wild thyme)
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed (optional)
1 cup olive oil
5 tablespoons of parmigiano reggiano cheese, freshly grated
coarse sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste.
Method:
Ground the wild garlic, pine kernels, garlic and olive oil in a pestle & mortar is best but OK in a food processor. Add in the cheese and taste, add salt and pepper as required. Store the pesto in a sterilised jar in the fridge.
We do not have much pine right here but loads of walnut trees everywhere. Try substituting the pine nuts with walnuts or an interesting variation.
Wild leek (Allium ampeloprasum) which is really lovely flavour, milder than wild garlic and really like gardens leeks but more flavour. You get the same species in Wales and it is the true Welsh 'leek' . The ancient King of Gwynedd, Cadwallon ap Cadfan, is said in AD 633, to have given leeks to his men to wear on their hats to distinguish them from their saxon foes. I suspect it was the globe shaped flower heads they actually wore, rather than shop brought leeks which are a recent import seen today
So lots of garlicky onoiny flavours... nice
Simon
The beginning of Spring, shoots budding out, annual plants pushing there way out of the warming soil. Grass taking on that lushness which makes you want to go and buy some fresh organic butter
Here, we are in the south of France, in a department called the Aveyron, yet not with the same warmer, temperatures as the Med coast. The village is at 450m above sea-level and local hills up over 1,400m. So our weather tends to be colder and drier in winter and hotter and drier in summer, with a short spring and autumn transition. It tends to be 2-3 weeks behind the UK in the Spring but heats up quicker when it comes.
This year everything is late here, with it still being in a cold snap and snow still falling on the hills above 1200m; but I can just feel all the plants bursting with sap, ready to explode into life, and paint the valley every shade of green at the merest hint of warm sunlight
So far for some fairly limited walks it has been Chickweed (Stellaria media) for the salads together with young Hawthorn (Crateagus monogyna) shoots (or what we called 'bread 'n no cheese' as kids) for salad and general snack out walking; young Nettles (Urtica dioca) for soup and stew and tea; Wild Garlic (Allium ursinum. 'Lail des ours' or 'Bears Garlic' as they call it in France) and Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata, jack-in-the-hedgrow etc popping up nicely for those great flavours, leaves rubbed on toasted crusty bread sprinkled with some coarse sea salt, olive oil and rubbed with tomato for a nice quick croustini. Makes great pesto too
Wild Garlic Pesto
Ingredients:
1 large handful wild garlic leaves, well washed and patted dry
(as an option add a touch of wild mint and/or wild thyme)
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed (optional)
1 cup olive oil
5 tablespoons of parmigiano reggiano cheese, freshly grated
coarse sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste.
Method:
Ground the wild garlic, pine kernels, garlic and olive oil in a pestle & mortar is best but OK in a food processor. Add in the cheese and taste, add salt and pepper as required. Store the pesto in a sterilised jar in the fridge.
We do not have much pine right here but loads of walnut trees everywhere. Try substituting the pine nuts with walnuts or an interesting variation.
Wild leek (Allium ampeloprasum) which is really lovely flavour, milder than wild garlic and really like gardens leeks but more flavour. You get the same species in Wales and it is the true Welsh 'leek' . The ancient King of Gwynedd, Cadwallon ap Cadfan, is said in AD 633, to have given leeks to his men to wear on their hats to distinguish them from their saxon foes. I suspect it was the globe shaped flower heads they actually wore, rather than shop brought leeks which are a recent import seen today
So lots of garlicky onoiny flavours... nice
Simon
