Pignut

[Shambling Shaman]

Just had my first pignut to day
What I would like to know is if you get the wrong plant and dig down do you still find a similer nut at the bottom?
Don't normaly eat mutch wild stuff as I like to be 101% before I eat.

 

[black_kissa]

Good idea to want to be very sure... just start and learn the hazardous ones first - find out which plants are poisonous, and learn where they grow, what they look like, and what the symptoms and treatment of ingestation are. This makes you feel much more comfortable...
Compare it to visiting the city: when you are warned about pickpocets and other dangers, you feel more comfortable too.

Live and Love,
Anneke

 

[andyn]

I had my first pignut the other. Was most pleased with their earthy, and almost chesnuty, flavour.

Where we found them, amongst bluebells, if the stem snapped from the 'nut' then we just left it unless it was obvious which bulb it had come from. The last thing you want to do is end up eating something else.

As for selecting the wrong plant and digging down. I think the only plant that looks that similar is cowparsly but you can easily tell the difference by looking at the leaves.

I took this picture of pignut today as you can see the leaves are very different to those on a cowparsley. Much spikier in apperance.

 

[Jumbalaya]

I have some pix and a recipe for using pignut at:
www.countrylovers.co.uk/wfs/pignut.htm

Hope it helps.... and inspires.

Marcus

 

[leon-1]

Thanks Marcus, sounds good

 

[Jon Mawer]

Found hundreds of pignuts today on the college campus! Lovely, a bit like raw potato! I'm going to go out tomorrow and dig some more up!

 

[Mooney]

Is that a fully grown plant, im guessing not but i have a lot of cow parsley near by which i was unsure at first wether it could have been pignut(definately not because of the leaves) but i was wondering how similar the flower heads are.

its great to see so many posts/ info on pignuts and the like, obdviously nobody wants to make a mistake.

 

[Shambling Shaman]

Cow parsly has a simler head but pignut has a differant leaf (as far as I can tell) I was 100% when I seen them.

 

[whitebeam]

went for a walk today and found my first pignut. really chuffed. ate it and was lovely.

thank to everyone for pictures, id and advice.

cheers,

whitebeam

 

[torjusg]

I must honestly tell that I don't feel very comfortable with this group of plants. But I am planning on testing some cow parsley since it grows everywhere here. From what I hear it is supposed to be leached for quite some time first, because of it's foul taste.

Any 100% identification tips on non-flowering cow parsley?

Torjus Gaaren

 

[JonnyP]

Went out today and found this part of the meadow full of pignuts, all the white flowers you can see in the photo are pignuts.
Torjus........Just as a help, cow parsley is one of the first of the carrot family to come into flower and you usually find loads of it growing in an area, well here we do anyway.................Jon

 

[wiggles]

national find your first pignut day maybe

i found my first today and was really happy because i recognised it staight away and notuced the odd angle of the stem before the bulb bit

how should i go about eating it?

wiggles

 

[andyn]

Found hundreds of pignuts today on the college campus! Lovely, a bit like raw potato! I'm going to go out tomorrow and dig some more up!

Sorry to sound like a spoil sport, but just thought I would remind everyone and mention that you should be aware that it is ILLEGAL to dig up pignuts or other wild plant without the land owners permission first.

 

[JonnyP]

national find your first pignut day maybe

i found my first today and was really happy because i recognised it staight away and notuced the odd angle of the stem before the bulb bit

how should i go about eating it?

wiggles

Just srape off the outer skin and eat the white nut inside..............Jon

 

[whitebeam]

I like to eat mine raw but you could chop it finely and put in bannock bread, or roast it or it can be added to a stew

 

[Pignut]

Just srape off the outer skin and eat the white nut inside..............Jon

The only way to eat them!!!

Andyn made a good point that should be noted

 

[match]

There are only 2 umbelliferous plants that I'm happy to identify - pignuts and sweet cicely - most of the rest (cow parsley, hemlock, wild carrot etc) I've never taken the time to identify separately, since they look very similar and the 'getting it wrong' risk is quite high.

Pignuts are easy to identify through several things - the main one being the fact they have a single flowering stem with very feathery leaves per nut (see photo above - yes that is more or less 'fully grown'). Secondly, they are the only member of the family to have a distinctive round nut at the base of the stem, which as has already been said, is attached at a slightly off angle.

That said, make sure you're sure in any identification, and be considerate (and legal) in what you go digging up and eating.

 

[andyn]

nicely summed up

 

[Chance]

Proudest Dad on the forum this past weekend: my six-year-old pointed out pignut to the experimental archaeologist demonstrating Iron Age hunting skills (Archaeolink, northeast Scotland).