I dug up a few Lesser Celandine this evening while weeding the garden and thought I'd better give them a go. The little bulbs grow in quite dense clusters, just below the surface. Although each bulb is very small, there are masses of them, with fairly large clusters to each plant, so it would be little effort to gather enough for a meal.
The bulbs can easily be pulled off the root mass to separate them from the mud and stalks but they do need a good clean after this. I got a good result by putting them into a tupperware container with some water and shaking them then draining off the water about half a dozen times. Once clean they are a nice creamy white colour.
I tried Ray Mears' suggestion of boiling them in two changes of water (i.e. put in cold water, bring to the boil, drain off and refill the pan then bring to the boil again). I was a little apprehensive after GuyH's experience (and that most of the food that RM describes as delicious I find very bitter) but I found them to be absolutely delicious with no hint of bitterness. Apart from their tiny size, they seemed to me to be almost exactly like minute boiled new potatoes - the same floury inside that bursts open when you bite through the skin.
I had to stop myself from eating too many, as this was the first time I had tried them and I wanted to wait a day to check I didn't react to them. If I'm OK then I must try RM's suggestion of frying them to make tiny chips. Of all the wild greens /roots that I have tried so far, only Lesser Celandine, Bittercress and Cornsalad fall into my category of food I enjoy eating.
Geoff
