Wild Edibles - Coastal

[Native Nathan]

I live on the cost and whilst my inland brushcraft skills are very good this has been at the expence of the costal regions

Does anyone know of any wild edibles found on the UK coasts and the best ways to prepare them.

Or any other bushcraft skills that are unique to coastal regions.

Thank you all in advance

 

[EdS]

fish

wild chips need a bit of skilled stalking though - trciky littel sods.

 

[xylaria]

If whacking limpets off a rock is skill.

Don't cook them like RM his were over done and rubbery. I stick them (well they stick themselves) to piece of metal and put over fire, when they stop sticking and start to sizzle, take them off remove shell and black bit. The foot is really nice and tender cooked this way.

There are seaweeds, a lot of them edible depending on how they are cooked.

Saltmarshes are very rich a wide variety of greens, but are rare habitats and can be not nice places to forage with tides, stinky mud, mozzies, birdwatchers that think they own the place. Samphire is really nice though.

 

[Iona]

Yeah samphire! and I think you get more alexanders nearish the sea, never find them here they're lovely.

 

[waddcal]

in food for free there is a section for shellfish and one for seaweed,
both with lots of detail, especially the seaweed.
last time i went to the beach i gathered a bucket full of seaweeds like dulse, sea lettuce and two types of kelp.
also, another good book is wild gormets, which has some more appealing recipes.

Callum.

 

[Nagual]

There is a large variety of shellfish of course, depending on where you are. Local knowledge of the area is a must to avoid areas of sewage and pollution. Everything from winkles, muscles, clams, razor shells etc. As mentioned above many seaweeds and algae too can be used as food. Crabs of course. There are several plants that grow around sea shores, off the top of my head you have sea beet and sea kale but many many others can grow near the shore line as they aren't too bothered about the salty water.

 

[delbach]

There is a River Cottage handbook out next month called The Edible Seashore,if it's like the others it should be quite good.
Hope this is of some help
Andrew

 

[Grooveski]

One meal I'm determined to cook again is queenies. Used to dive for them as a kid and sell them to the bait shop for pocket money but tried a couple last year that had been washed in and they're well tasty.

They live(or rest at least) on the drop-off of sheltered sandbanks, the first couple of metres down the slope. It's a snorkel job really but on a low tide you can sometimes wade out over the bank and duck down for them.
Filter feeder though and the days I've been tempted to go for a swim have invariably been in the summer. Need to try it soon before the water warms up.

 

[Bongo Matt]

If the place you going is rocky, then you are likely to find limpets which are good eating like Xylaria said, I camp on the coast alot and like to take a few handfulls of winkles and whelks, and put them in a tub of seawater overnight so that they excrete all of the sand and crap in their digestive systems, then boil them for a few minutes and pick them out with a pin, nice dipped in vinager too. If it is sandy then you may be blessed with razorfish that can be found at very low spring tides and are identifiable by a keyshaped hole -

http://www.wirralseafishing.co.uk/images/razor1.jpg

Tread very lightly and sprinkle some salt in the hole and when they pop up grasp but dont pull, let the razorfish tire itself then it just slides out with ease. Another creature that likes sandy bottoms are cockles as well, I treat them the same as winkles and whelks to purge.

Another cool idea is to make use of all those plastic bottles that wash up by turning them into prawn traps, simply cut the top end off, invert it and sew it on with braided nylon (the type that can be found inside parachord) cut a little door for bait and retrieval, the smaller the better (so wont open under water, larger is flimsey), and stab hundreds of tiny little holes in it to it can fill with water easily and the scent can travel. Good bait is something oily like mackerel but anything fishy will do, even smashed limpet. Put a stone in and tie to a rock at the low tide mark, you may need make about 10 - 15 to get a good catch but they dont take long.

If you find some old broken lobster pots washed up, they are always worth patching up with bits of hazel and twine and putting out in rocky places, just remember to anchor them well at low tide, even wade out a little as they do tend to go walkies......

 

[Jumbalaya]

Hello NN,

I have a Cornish Foraging guide on my website [PDF format] and you'll find a number of coastal plants in that. Point your browser to: http://www.wildfoodschool.co.uk/urban and pick up your free copy.

Best
Marcus

 

[Humpback]

Thanks Marcus

 

[andybysea]

How the hell do you guys rate limpets as good eating when i tried them i nearly threw up!
I must admit im more a mammal eater than a fish eater, but jeez you must have iron constitutions.

 

[Rob Tangtent]

rock samphire is really nice, tastes like cola raw but you can boil it up i think

sea beet's ok. Apparantly it is nice with fish

sea holly aswell, i have never tried this though

also if you see any dry stone walls around, look for pennywort. i really like the taste of that.

 

[Mang]

rock samphire is really nice, tastes like cola raw but you can boil it up i think

When I lived by the coast as a kid we used to simmer it and have it with a little vinegar

 

[Tor helge]

How the hell do you guys rate limpets as good eating when i tried them i nearly threw up!
I must admit im more a mammal eater than a fish eater, but jeez you must have iron constitutions.

I actually like them. I find them tasty and not rubbery like many people claim.
I usually prepare them in a manner similar to that Xylaria use.

Limpets ready for some coals.

Although I rate mussels higher, they are often poisonous (or at least the government sites say they could be) and I will not risk using my spear time in the woods sitting behind a bush trousers down, or worse .

Tor