Some pictures and commentary. Excellent course. The perfect way to experience and learn about this stuff if you don't have much time due to work and family commitments. Well worth the money. One of the best weekends in ages.
The boat house on the tarn near the camp site. This is a great spot! The weather was overcast but not cold.
Foraging results. We went on a walk around the camp area and picked up a range of things that we later used to 'stuff' rabbit parcels for the hangi, and generally experiment with flavours. It is a real treat to be able to walk with people - Ben and Rob - who have such a deep knowledge of wild foods. I learned a lot. We even found some cramp ball fungus, which was a bonus.
Close up.
Rabbit prep by Rob. Saddles and heart on the wood.
Rabbit parcels ready for the hangi.
Hangi ready for fire lighting.
Hangi taking off. We had to leave at this stage to do other stuff and as a precaution against exploding rocks. Ben had earlier explained the various types of rock to use.
Ben giving us a fungi lecture. This was inevitably a general overview for beginners with lots of warnings about cross referencing and adopting a precautionary approach to be safe. We also went through some key books to use for reference. The highlight of our foraging walk for me was finding Amethyst Deceiver.
Explaining ponassing.
Three ponassed chickens over the main fire. These were basted with a sweet sauce. I think the original idea was to use duck, but none were available. I am not complaining, they tasted delicious! I'm definitely going to try this technique with all sorts of stuff.
The outside oven with more chickens to make absolutely sure we didn't go hungry!
The results of the hangi. The food in the centre was well cooked, the spuds and onions didn't all make it.
Frying the underdone spuds on a murikka.
Earlier, the murikka had been used by Rob to fry off the front legs of the rabbits.
The raw materials for all sorts of bannock, sweet and savoury. Fruit, nuts, beer, salami, etc.
My loaf of fruit and nut bread ready to go.
And the same loaf on the fire with bacon for a BBC breakfast.
The result. A little charred but mostly fine. The importance of relatively gentle, even heat when baking was clear.
Pizza bread with salami and sun dried tomatoes, more bacon and the "stand up" bannock method.
Rob slicing pigeon breasts straight into the frying pan with mushrooms. We did this ourselves on the fires later. I've not eaten pigeon much. It was really tasty. Better than rabbit!
A truly outstanding pigeon pie made by Lisa!
How outstanding? Well, the same pie not much later along with some berry chutney
Making pies on open fires is something else I'm going to be busy with I think!
Many more photos and anecdotes, a notebook with lots of stuff in it, good company, great instructors, and I have to say all in all this was a fantastic weekend for a noob like me
The boat house on the tarn near the camp site. This is a great spot! The weather was overcast but not cold.
Foraging results. We went on a walk around the camp area and picked up a range of things that we later used to 'stuff' rabbit parcels for the hangi, and generally experiment with flavours. It is a real treat to be able to walk with people - Ben and Rob - who have such a deep knowledge of wild foods. I learned a lot. We even found some cramp ball fungus, which was a bonus.
Close up.
Rabbit prep by Rob. Saddles and heart on the wood.
Rabbit parcels ready for the hangi.
Hangi ready for fire lighting.
Hangi taking off. We had to leave at this stage to do other stuff and as a precaution against exploding rocks. Ben had earlier explained the various types of rock to use.
Ben giving us a fungi lecture. This was inevitably a general overview for beginners with lots of warnings about cross referencing and adopting a precautionary approach to be safe. We also went through some key books to use for reference. The highlight of our foraging walk for me was finding Amethyst Deceiver.
Explaining ponassing.
Three ponassed chickens over the main fire. These were basted with a sweet sauce. I think the original idea was to use duck, but none were available. I am not complaining, they tasted delicious! I'm definitely going to try this technique with all sorts of stuff.
The outside oven with more chickens to make absolutely sure we didn't go hungry!
The results of the hangi. The food in the centre was well cooked, the spuds and onions didn't all make it.
Frying the underdone spuds on a murikka.
Earlier, the murikka had been used by Rob to fry off the front legs of the rabbits.
The raw materials for all sorts of bannock, sweet and savoury. Fruit, nuts, beer, salami, etc.
My loaf of fruit and nut bread ready to go.
And the same loaf on the fire with bacon for a BBC breakfast.
The result. A little charred but mostly fine. The importance of relatively gentle, even heat when baking was clear.
Pizza bread with salami and sun dried tomatoes, more bacon and the "stand up" bannock method.
Rob slicing pigeon breasts straight into the frying pan with mushrooms. We did this ourselves on the fires later. I've not eaten pigeon much. It was really tasty. Better than rabbit!
A truly outstanding pigeon pie made by Lisa!
How outstanding? Well, the same pie not much later along with some berry chutney
Making pies on open fires is something else I'm going to be busy with I think!
Many more photos and anecdotes, a notebook with lots of stuff in it, good company, great instructors, and I have to say all in all this was a fantastic weekend for a noob like me
