not so lovely grub

[troy ap De skog]

after exsperimenting over last few days..
the emergencey peasent food of northern europe.. elm bark porrage is absoultly disgusting and not worth the effort in processing...

any other wild foods tha you know of that are repulsive? i want to know, so i can try them, and see what owns are some what palitable..

 

[Toddy]

I have to ask, where in the UK did you get enough live mature elm to get fresh inner bark for porridge ? Have you tried pine ?

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Goatboy]

Samuel Johnson referred, disparagingly, to this staple diet in his dictionary definition for oats:

A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.
Lord Elibank was said by Sir Walter Scott to have retorted

Yes, and where else will you see such horses and such men?.

Has anyone else ever partained to the idea of eating the grains of your latitude as a way to stay healthy?

GB

 

[troy ap De skog]

i dont mind boiled oats, as long as you chuck some berries in at the end..

well all are local hedges are are small leaved elm, got quiite a lot of trees of a simibature state, about 20-25 years old (12-18ft).... worse bit about elm porrage is the fact is like eating wall paper paiste, taiste like it too.

toddy what is this recipie for pine.. ill give it a try

 

[xylaria]

I tried a old recipe for easter ledge pudding. It was barley cooked with nettles and bistort, set and then refried. For ingredants I quite like, I must say it was like peasant food from the middle ages. It was horribly bland refried gloop. There is some instructions for pine cambium flour from one of Oz's post from years ago, I tried it and got saw dust that tasted like turps. I must of used the wrong pine because I had tasted some fresh cambium that quite nice. Starches are hard work, and it is always disapointing when they go wrong. I have have spent a week doing acorns for flour and still ended up with stuff that tasted like coffee. I learned to make it in smaller amounts so it the tannins have more water to leach into.

I want to try a recipe for scots crowdie, it sounds nice. it is cream, oats, rum and blackberries. I just hope it doesn't turn out like fat porrage with fruit.

 

[Toddy]

Crowdie is just soft cheese, the first stage curdled and strained. It's very quick, mild and if herbs and a little salt are added, really tasty.

I used to like it just as it comes out of the cloth though.

A lot of recipes nowaday add so much to the simple foods that they become unrecognisible.

Cranachan is simply what your Mum or your Granny made when you went home with a handful of sticky wild gathered fruit.
They'd whip up some cream to put on top and toast some rolled oats to add a nuttiness to it all.
Delicious, and the scents of fruits and toasted oats still smells wonderful to me. Nowadays it gets served up in posh restaurants with whisky and sugar and grated citrus rind

cheers,
M

 

[Justin Time]

I suspect there's a reason for it being emergency food... probably a decent source of carbs, but tastes horrible so you wouldn't cook it unless you really had to.. Years ago I had a traditional Ghanaian meal at a friend's house. Lovely spicy stew... and a starchy paste which I think was called fufu.. I had the same reaction... tasteless, wallpaper paste... basically the only way I could eat it it was to surround it with the sauce and swallow quickly... but given we need carbs in our diet I can see why people would use it.
I've found a large patch of silverweed locally which appears to be doing well so I plan to give that a try, I know people speak highly of it

 

[Goatboy]

Have you tried pickled ash keys? Tried some last year and I'm not a hundred percent sure, edible with some strong cheese and a plentiful resource that should be tapped, but not a favourite.

GB.

 

[Toddy]

Funny enough I swept out the leaves alongside the greenhouse today and in among them were some of last years Sycamore seeds. Still green and tasty too Like peas; taste good too. A little munchy, don't know as I could eat a bowlful of them though depends how hungry I was I suspect

Do yo have a recipe for your pickled ash keys ?

cheers,
M

 

[Goatboy]

Hiya Toddy,

It was a recipie from the net, only made a small amount as although I like pickles (onions, beetroot, etc) I'm not keen on things like capers (though I love tartar sauce) and olives.

Ingredients
•half pint of Ash Keys (no stalks)
•1 stick of cinammon
•1 tsp cloves
•1 tsp allspice
•1/2 tsp grated ginger
•1 tsp salt
•8-12 peppercorns
•8-12 coriander seeds
•8-12 mustard seeds
•1 dried birds eye chilli
•4-5 bay leaves
•3-4 tbsp brown sugar
•half pint of cider vinegar
Instructions
1.Put the spices, salt and sugar into a saucepan (stainless steel) and add the vinegar and bring slowly to the boil.
2.Simmer for 5 minutes, then leave to cool and infuse for a few hours.
3.Wash Ash Keys
4.Place in a pan covered with cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.
5.Strain off water
6.Add some fresh water, bring back to boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
7.Drain off the water well until partly dry and then pack into warm dry jars. Allow an inch of space at top of jar.
8.Strain the spicy vinegar liquid and pour over the Ash Keys right to the brim. Drop a few peppercorns in and if you have, some mustard seed.
9.Screw on the tops
10.Store for 3 months to let the pickle ‘mature’.

Must admit I left out the chilli, personally can live without chilli heatm hotheads may want to add it back in, did think that a little fennel might be in order if I try it again.

Cheers
GB.

 

[santaman2000]

Personally I find Cream of Wheat (a yankee porrige) fairly disgusting. On the other hand I rather like oatmel. Go figure.