CHAPTER TEN

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Foraging

SELF-SUFFICIENCY ISN’T JUST about changing your lifestyle, it’s also about changing your attitude to the world around you and becoming more attuned to the natural rhythms of life. Picking and eating wild foods that are in season, or foraging, is one of the most pleasurable ways of connecting with the land and the environment. Not only are you eating food that is fresh, seasonal, local and free but you can be more confident that it will be uncontaminated by toxins and chemicals. Foraging is something that almost everyone can do – if you can spot an apple in an apple tree or a blackberry between the thorns, then you can forage. And at the end of it all you can come away with anything from a complete three-course meal to a simple punnet of berries.

Whether kicking along the seashore in search of edible seaweed, rummaging about in the hedgerows for berries or searching out mushrooms in the woods, vital to any foraging expedition are your senses of sight, smell, touch, hearing and, of course, taste. And it’s always a good idea to carry a specialized field reference guide to help in accurate identification, some gloves, a pair of scissors, water, a camera (to have a record of plants in situ), a mobile phone and a container in which to collect your goodies. There are some important ‘do’s and ‘don’t’s while foraging:

Be legal

• Under the law of trespass it is illegal to wander on to another person’s land uninvited.

• In many places it is illegal to take a whole plant without the owner’s permission.

• Endangered or protected plant species that are covered by law can carry huge penalties if disturbed. They should always be left in peace.

Be ethical

• Only harvest a small amount of what is available. Remember: one for you, one for the plant and one for the wildlife – in other words, ensure there’s enough for wild animals to eat and for the species to be preserved.

• Respect wildlife and avoid upsetting their homes and nests in hedgerows, fields and trees, especially around springtime.

Be safe

• Be aware of your surroundings and steer clear of foraging close to heavy industry, stagnant water, landfill sites, main roads and anywhere that may have been sprayed with chemicals.

• Only harvest from healthy, strong-looking plants.

• Always wash produce before eating.

The golden rule

• Be absolutely certain that you have identified a plant correctly before you consider eating it.

WHEN AND WHERE TO FORAGE

Wild food grows everywhere: on the seashore, the sides of roads, in bushes, hedgerows, the middle of fields, on trees and sometimes even in your own back garden. It’s always a good idea to find out about the plants that may be growing and readily available in your area. Understanding what is available to eat, and when, is a life skill anyone interested in foraging can learn and from this will come the ability to eat a gourmet banquet for free almost any day of the year.

Tastes of the seasons

Spring: This is a fantastic season for the forager – a period of growth and abundance when everything is fresh and bright. It’s a perfect time to gather young, tender shoots and leaves and flowers that have a distinctly crisp, clean taste.

Summer: The warmest and most humid of the seasons, this is a period of ripening and of maturing tastes and textures. Summer food is simply bursting with flavour: rich and juicy, with a multitude of berries, fruits and fragrant herbs.

Autumn: The contemplative season, but also one of preparation, gathering and storing for the cold months to come. The autumn harvest is full of woody, musky, earthy flavours, with fruit, nuts and mushrooms dominating.

Winter: The short days and long, cold nights of winter mean that foragers have to work hard for their dinner. This is the season for soups, casseroles, slow-cooked recipes and the strong, rich flavours of hardy mushrooms, garlic and herbs.

The forager’s favourite haunts

Hedges: Hedgerows are often teeming with delicious edibles such as blackberries, raspberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants, gooseberries, sloes, wild cherries, elderberries and damsons, as well as wild garlic, elderflowers and rose hips.

Pastures and open fields: These sites offer an abundance of wild herbs, including thyme, marjoram, sorrel, chicory, pignut and, in damp areas, mint. They are also host to other wonderful favourites such as field mushrooms, St George’s mushrooms and giant puffballs.

Roadsides: Although it’s always best to avoid roads with heavy traffic, roadsides are surprisingly abundant with food and often contain wild cabbage, fennel, horseradish, asparagus, berries and even common lime.

The seashore: This is a seriously good site for the forager. Seawater contains almost the same minerals and trace elements as blood, which means that seaweed is incredibly good for you. Some types of seaweed, laver in particular, are eaten in pies, bread and sausages. Other edible seaweeds include carragheen, sea lettuce and sweet oar weed. Some of the shellfish along Britain’s coastal areas will equal any around the world. Clams, razor clams, cockles, mussels and limpets are particularly good.

Woodlands: These are great places to go in search of the foraging well-knowns, including hawthorn leaves (best eaten in April and known to many as ‘bread and cheese’) and pine needles for pine-needle tea, as well as for more adventurous plant foods, such as stinging nettles. In late summer and autumn the woodlands are bursting with mushrooms such as chanterelle, beefsteak, cep, horn of plenty and chicken of the woods.

WILD FOOD

There are six main categories of wild food: fruits (including berries), herbs, leaves, mushrooms, nuts and food from the seashore. The variety within each category is staggering and has led some of the world’s most innovative chefs to now consider the great outdoors as an extension of their larder. This chapter gives just a sample of some of the most common and easily obtainable wild foods that can be used in the kitchen to add tremendous flavour, texture and character to your meals. Mushrooms offer a particularly rich and plentiful source of food for the forager and can also be preserved quite easily, which is great news for self-sufficiency. Some of the plants and foods in the sections that follow have been highlighted as ‘special features’. The criteria for selection are unashamedly personal – these foods are favourites of mine and are either versatile or simple to find, easy to identify or fantastic fun at mealtimes, or maybe even a combination of all of these things!

Fruits and berries

What could be more pleasurable than blackberrying with the children on a glorious Sunday afternoon in late summer and then sitting down to enjoy a mouthwatering apple and blackberry crumble? Fruits and berries are common from mid-summer through to autumn and can be found anywhere from hedgerows to trees, bushes to roadsides. Be gentle when handling them as they are easily bruised or squashed. Also avoid picking from low down on hedges that are growing on or near well-walked paths and tracks – you probably won’t be the first person to have walked there that day and the thought that a dog may have lifted its leg on your fruit may take some of the joy out of your foraging experience!

Among the most mouthwatering wild fruits are cherries, plums and, if you can find them, apples and pears. But it’s the berries that in late summer and autumn are most prevalent: blackberries, raspberries, gooseberries, whortleberries, junipers, dewberries, rowan berries, red-currants, blackcurrants and wild strawberries. An abundance of these delicious, plump berries fills our bushes, hedgerows and woodlands in band after band of vibrant colour. Many of the wild berries are rich in antioxidants, fibre, vitamins C and B, folic acid, magnesium, copper and iron and are therefore a tremendous source of natural goodness and are believed to help combat a number of ailments, including (among many other things) general aches and pains, inflammation and allergies (although no definitive medical evidence yet exists to support these claims). The real treat after a superb day’s foraging comes the following morning, when you mix equal portions of your fruit, berries and nuts with raw oatmeal and a splash of ice-cold milk for the perfect forager’s breakfast that will literally ping your body awake and make you feel good for the rest of the day.

Rose hip, Rosa canina

The rose hip is one of the most common wild fruits and should be picked soon after the first frost of the year. An extremely rich source of vitamin C, its ripe, red fruits are famously used to produce a syrup. One traditional recipe (still in use to this day) dates to the Second World War, when the Ministry of Health requested volunteers to forage and gather hips. A staggering 120 tons were collected, boiled at length and turned into rose-hip syrup, which was then used to help prevent the onset of scurvy. Rose hips can be combined with crabapples (another good foraging fruit) to make a delicious crabapple and rose-hip jelly. The juice from this fruit should always be strained before use – the tiny fibres in the hips used to be dried to produce ‘itching powder’!

Elder, Sambucus nigra

This has to be one of the most exciting and versatile plants on the forager’s wish-list. The deciduous shrub produces off-white to cream-coloured clusters of flowers in late June and small, shiny berries of darkest blue to black in late August through to October (avoid the later berries if they appear dull or wrinkled). The flowers as well as the berries can be used. Elder is steeped in folklore and has strong associations with witchcraft. Legend has it, for example, that when a witch needed to change identity she would turn herself into an elder bush – the proof of this transformation was to cut into the elder to see if it bled.

Elderberries make a great addition to blackberry and apple pie or fruit jam because of their high level of pectin, a gelling agent. Most famously they are used to produce elderberry wine, with its wonderful deep velvety red colour (it is thought that some of the most sought-after French wines, including certain Bordeaux and clarets, were first based on English elderberry wine). The honey-scented flowers can be deep fried as fritters or turned into a refreshing sparkling wine or cordial. Elderflower also has some exciting medicinal qualities – if infused with water, it can be helpful in treating various ailments, including bronchitis, coughs, colds and sore throats. When harvesting, cut the complete cluster of flowers or berries where they join the stem of the shrub. Pick the flowers from high on the bush as washing them will destroy their fragrance; use them straight away.

Herbs

Wild herbs are more delicate and have a milder flavour than their domestic cousins because they are natural and have not been intensified (selectively bred to produce hybrids). They should be harvested from heaths, grassland and pastureland early in the morning on a dry spring day, just as they are beginning to flower (the flowers will help you with identification). Always cut a little of what’s available, never tear, and either use the herbs the same day or put them down to dry as soon as possible.

Not to be confused with garden thyme, wild thyme is available throughout the year. It has a subtle flavour that can be added to many soups and stews. Many varieties of wild mint can be found all through the summer, including hybrids of the cultivated and wild types that produce a range of different flavours. But beware of water mint, which is all too common in the waterways and ditches of Britain – it has a watery, muddy smell and tastes horrible when used with any food! Bergamot is a perennial herb with showy, scarlet flowers. It is a summer herb that is often used in teas. But it is also wonderful in salads and can be made into herb butter for use on poultry and game. Wild fennel, with its gorgeous smell and aniseed taste, is increasingly easy to find. It makes a perfect accompaniment to fish in a cream or crème fraiche sauce, and is a pleasant alternative to dill.

Common comfrey is a perennial, stout, coarse-looking herb that flowers from late spring right through the summer. When made with young leaves, comfrey soup is delicious and wholesome. Comfrey is also excellent when cooked as a vegetable – the leaves are softer and more tender than spinach. Although strong in flavour this herb will add a lift and intensity to any cream sauce or white sauce.

Meadowsweet is an elegant plant that grows in damp areas and is available throughout the summer. Its distinct honey flavour was once used to enhance the taste of mead, beer and wine. The flowers combine well with crabapples – when cooked together the apples taste as though they have been sweetened with honey. Meadowsweet flowers can also be cooked with rhubarb or made into a syrup and used as a cordial.

Sorrel, Rumex acetosa

Sorrel is a perennial herb and one of the earliest, flowering between May and August, although the leaves can be picked at the beginning of March if the tail-end of winter is mild. The leaves are green, slim and arrow shaped with tiny flowers that bloom a purply red in summer. Sorrel was traditionally used and prepared in much the same way as we prepare mint sauce today, by chopping finely or grinding into a paste, adding sugar and vinegar and serving as an accompaniment to meat. But most people are familiar with it in a soup and occasionally as an addition to an early summer salad. When preparing sorrel, take care not to use any pots, pans or utensils made from iron as the natural chemicals in the plant can react to it. Sorrel contains vitamin C and is thought to enhance the haemoglobin content of the blood. Avoid eating large quantities as sorrel contains small amounts of oxalic acid.

Stinging nettle, Urtica dioica

The nettles of this perennial herb taste fantastic and are incredibly healthy, containing vitamins A, C, D, iron, potassium, manganese, calcium and even protein. They are also known to help with rheumatism, increase haemoglobin in the blood and improve circulation.

Pick the nettle tops when they are young using scissors and gloves to protect against the sting (cooking removes the sting, making them safe to eat). Avoid picking after June, when they turn bitter and gritty. After washing, the leaves can be used for soup, pesto, purée, paté or fried to make crisps. But in my opinion the best way to cook them is in cupcakes, I kid you not.

Stinging nettle cupcakes

Stinging nettle cupcakes are incredible, with a really vivid pistachio green sponge that will wow you visually even before you bite into it, but once you do, oh boy. This will make a dozen cakes.

165g/5¾oz/1¼ cups self-raising flour

165g/5¾oz/¾ cup butter

165g/5¾oz/¾ cup plus 1 tbsp caster sugar

2 large eggs

juice and zest of 1 lemon

1½ tsp baking powder

1 cricket ball size of processed stinging nettles – washed, steamed, wrung dry and finely chopped.

FOR THE BUTTER CREAM TOPPING

250g/9oz/1¾ cups icing (confectioner’s) sugar

125g/4½oz/½ cup plus 1 tbsp butter

zest of 1 lemon

1 tbsp milk

primrose flowers or wood sorrel leaves, to decorate (optional)

Preheat oven to 180˚C/350˚F/gas 4. Line a muffin/cupcake tin with paper cases. Meanwhile put all of the cupcake ingredients, including the chopped stinging nettles, into a food processor with the cutting blade attached. Mix on the high setting for 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add a dessertspoon of mix to each paper case, and bake for 15–20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

For the topping, mix the butter cream ingredients together in a bowl until thoroughly combined. When the cakes are cool, top with the butter cream, and finish with the decoration, if using.

Bannock bread

Any discussion of foraging and herbs would not be complete without at least a brief mention of bannock bread, a recipe that is thought to have originated in Scotland and northern England around the 5th century ad. In its simplest form, bannock bread consists of 1 mug of plain (all-purpose) flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 4 teaspoons of oil, half a teaspoon of salt, then enough water to make a stiff dough (the quantity of water will depend on the type of flour used). Delicious and simple to make, it’s an ideal family treat on a summer evening, flavoured with virtually anything you can forage. Pre-mix the dough and seal it in an air-tight container before setting out. Then search for wild herbs to make a savoury bread or berries to make a sweet one – take a bottle of water so that you can clean anything you pick. Build a small fire (check beforehand that it is safe and legal to do so). Break off a small round of dough and press some of your goodies firmly into it. Shape it around the end of a stick, then lean it into the heat of the fire to cook and enjoy!

Leaves

Leaves can be found almost everywhere, from waste ground and hedgerows to woods and roadsides. They generally benefit from being picked and eaten while young, in late spring and early summer, so that they retain most of their nutrition. Always cut a little of what’s available and as low down on the leaf blade or stem as possible.

Dried or fresh rose leaves make excellent tea, as do raspberry and ground-ivy leaves. Pine needles were also used for tea in days gone by because of their high vitamin C content, which helped to prevent scurvy (I can’t vouch for the taste however!). Beech leaves can be used as a flavouring for gin and oak leaves make wonderful wine. Wild garlic or ramson leaves make a great addition to any spring salad and are ideal thinly shredded and used as a final addition to soups and stews. (Always be sure that you have identified the plant correctly as garlic leaves are similar to the leaves of some poisonous plants. At the very least you should rub the leaves to see if they have a definite smell of garlic.) The leaves of some members of the daisy family (chicory, nipplewort and wall lettuce, for example) also make welcome additions to a wild leaf salad (see opposite).

Fat hen, Chenopodium album

Pick the young, tender leaves of this plant in the spring and wash and cook them as you would spinach. They make a wonderful green vegetable. There is evidence to suggest that Chenopodium album may have featured quite heavily in the diet of prehistoric man. Traces of the plant were found in the stomach of the astonishingly well-preserved ‘Tollund Man’, whose body was found in a bog in Denmark in 1950 and was later carbon dated to the 4th century BC. This hardy plant flourishes everywhere, even along the most well-worn paths.

Dandelion, Taraxacum officinale

With its vibrant yellow flower and green leaves, the dandelion can be found in fields and pastures from spring right though to winter, only dying off during the very coldest few weeks of the year. If you can find enough leaves, wash, chop and sauté them in a hot saucepan for 2–3 minutes, adding a knob of butter for the last 30 seconds, drain and turn on to a plate. Season with a little salt and pepper and sprinkle with some crushed or roughly grated nuts and serve with wild meat and game, such as rabbit, pheasant, wood pigeon or venison. The flowering heads of the dandelion can be collected and made into dandelion wine, the roots can be used to make beer or dandelion coffee and the younger, tender leaves can be used in a mixed salad.

Forager’s wild leaf salad

Looking into a bowl of salad should be like looking into a box of jewels. If it hasn’t got lots and lots of colour, then it’s not a true forager’s salad. Put a selection of sorrel leaves, dandelion leaves, wild garlic, pansy petals, nasturtium flowers, mint, chive flowers, apples, pears, strawberries, other berries, nuts, lettuce, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes in a bowl, chopping first where necessary, and make it look pretty. Use a light dressing of a delicately smoked extra virgin olive oil if you have access to a smoker; otherwise use an olive oil or nut oil and lemon juice dressing. Toss and serve.

Mushrooms

From early autumn to the first frost of winter wild mushrooms are on the menu in every forager’s home. If you know where to look, certain types are available all year round, although it’s in the chilly, damp autumn mornings that they are most prolific. Found mainly in fields and wooded areas, there are thousands of known species of mushroom (and no doubt thousands more yet to be discovered). Yet of this vast quantity only relatively few are safe to eat. Most of the rest will simply make you feel unwell but some are deadly. It is therefore essential to determine that the varieties you have picked are not poisonous. Always harvest all of the mushroom, as some toxic and poisonous varieties look incredibly similar to the edible ones and positive identification can only be made if you have the entire plant. A definitive guide, preferably in the shape of an experienced forager standing by your side, should always be used. There are some fantastic and reliable online sites that give photographs and detailed descriptions of just about every type of fungus you’re likely to stumble across. However, if you’re new to foraging and fancy adding an adventurous twist to your morning stroll with the dog, consider going on a guided mushroom walk with an expert before launching out on your own (they are often advertised in the local press).

Mushrooms grow up overnight, so it’s important to venture out at dawn and be the first on the scene before the insects and flies discover them. The rewards for your early start can be staggering. For anyone who loves food and enjoys cooking, a basket of freshly picked wild mushrooms is enough to make you gasp. The prospect of the different flavours, textures and scents is quite irresistible. Rich in vitamin B2 (riboflavin) and copper and with virtually no fat, sugar or salt, they’re not only good for you but are also non-fattening.

If you find a beefsteak mushroom, Fistulina hepatica, growing on a chestnut or an old oak tree, count yourself very fortunate, though expect a reddish juice to leach during cooking (this adds incredible flavour and colour to the sauce). Another good find is St George’s mushroom, Tricholoma gambosum, which, according to legend, is said to appear every year on 23 April, St George’s Day (and also my horse’s birthday – hence her name, Georgie Girl). If you happen to stumble across a giant puffball, Langermannia gigantea, you probably won’t know what to do with yourself or with all of the mushroom – some of them can grow larger than a football!

Field or meadow mushroom, Agaricus campestris

Most common of all the mushrooms, and the wild relative of the cultivated button mushroom, these are found from July to November in fields and meadows. Although they are common, this doesn’t mean they are easy to identify: a couple of poisonous fungi look very similar, including Destroying Angel, Amanita virosa, and Yellow Stainer, Agaricus xanthodermus. If you are at all uncertain about the safety of the plant, cut the mushroom in half vertically and avoid any that stain an orangey yellow or have white gills (in addition to this, always consult a reputable field guide). But otherwise, field or meadow mushrooms are delicious eaten raw, sliced into a salad, cooked on their own in a little butter and oil or mixed into a sauce to help bulk out and add depth of flavour to a meat dish.

Cep or porcini or penny bun, Boletus edulis

The distinctive chocolate brown cap of this mushroom gives it the appearance of a freshly toasted bun (hence penny bun, one of its common names). It is found in woods and clearings during September, October and November. Unfortunately it’s not just humans who find these mushrooms appetizing. Insects are also attracted to them – the trick is to cut into them before you cook and discard anything that looks infested. Small, tight ceps can be eaten raw and taste creamy and leafy, nutty and rich. The older and larger ceps are better sautéed with a little fresh thyme, a hint of garlic and a tiny squeeze of lemon (the lemon will bring out the flavour of the mushroom without being an identifiable taste itself) and are best served on hot, toasted brioche.

Chanterelle, Cantharellus cibarius

These gorgeous corn-yellow mushrooms with their distinctive trumpet shape and slightly citrus smell are common, and often grow near birch and beech trees. They can be found from July right the way through to the first frost of winter. However, take care not to confuse them with the highly hallucinogenic false chanterelle, Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca. Unlike the cep, chanterelles are not a target for insects and maggots. However, they do have their quirks when it comes to cooking and preparation. Chanterelles are not good eaten raw and need to be cooked reasonably slowly and carefully by either poaching in milk or frying in butter. They complement eggs beautifully and work well in omelets or with scrambled egg.

Chicken of the woods or sulphur polypore, Laetiporus sulphureus

A wood fungus that is found growing in clusters attached to old trees in the summer and autumn before the cold of winter sets in, this mushroom is an exciting find. The more vibrant and yellow the colour, the younger the mushroom (older ones tend to go tough and can taste bitter). They have a definite smell, taste and even texture of roast chicken, which makes them perfect for casseroles and stews (wash, cube and fry them lightly in butter and add to the pot about half an hour before serving), or for breakfast (part boil before frying in the same pan as some fatty bacon).

Wild mushroom risotto

Like all risottos, this is a little work, but the delicious, creamy result is well worth the effort!

250g/9oz mixed wild mushrooms, sliced or torn

4 tbsp olive oil

small handful chopped thyme

squeeze of lemon juice

2 onions, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

400g/14oz/2 heaped cups risotto rice

125ml/4fl oz/½ cup dry white wine

1.2 litres/2 pints/5 cups hot chicken or vegetable stock

75g/3oz/5 tbsp butter

115g/4oz hard cheese, such as Parmesan, finely grated

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Sauté the mushrooms in 3 tbsp of the oil in a frying pan until just cooked. Season, and add the thyme and lemon juice. Set to one side. In a large saucepan, heat the remaining oil and sweat the chopped onions and garlic until softened. Turn the heat up, add the rice and stir continuously for 2–3 minutes until beginning to look translucent. Add the wine, and keep stirring so that any harsh alcohol flavours are evaporated. Once nearly all the wine has evaporated, add a ladleful of hot stock and a pinch of salt. Turn the heat down to a simmer, chop half of the cooked mushrooms and add to the pan. Keep adding ladlefuls of stock while stirring, allowing each addition to be absorbed before adding the next. This should take about 15 minutes. Test the rice to make sure it is cooked. Remove from the heat, add the butter, the Parmesan and the remaining mushrooms. Stir gently, then serve as soon as possible.

Variation

Use cultivated mushrooms and 25g/1oz dried mushrooms, reconstituted in a little hot water (add the strained soaking liquid to your stock). Add the dried mushrooms when you add the first half of the fresh mushrooms.

Preserving mushrooms

The drawback to developing a taste for wild mushrooms comes around the time of the first hard frost – they seem to simply disappear overnight with the onset of winter. The answer is to preserve some of your gatherings in the autumn to use later in the year.

Chanterelle vodka: Not for the faint-hearted! Clean the chanterelles and pop them into a Kilner jar before adding the vodka (85g/3oz of mushrooms to 350ml/12fl oz of vodka). When all the mushrooms are lying on the bottom, the vodka is ready to drink. Chill well and serve as an aperitif.

Drying: Slice the mushrooms thinly and either lay them flat on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper or thread them on a needle and cotton. Leave to dry for about two days then store in a jar, bag or plastic container.

Duxelle: This classic French method of preparing mushrooms involves chopping them finely with some shallots and frying both ingredients gently in butter without browning. Add some herbs (thyme works well) and a little white wine and continue cooking on a low heat until all the moisture has evaporated. Then cool and refrigerate them or freeze them in an ice tray for easy portioning.

Freezing: Boil the mushrooms in salted water briefly, drain and allow to cool. Then freeze them separately on a tray before bagging and returning to the freezer.

Powder: Dry the mushrooms before putting them through a clean coffee grinder. Store in a Kilner jar. Perfect for flavouring winter curries, but use sparingly.

Purée: Preparation is as for duxelles but instead of refrigerating or freezing, whiz them in a blender until smooth. Then store the mixture in a Kilner jar or similar (or freeze) and use in soups and casseroles or in sauces for red meats such as beef or game.

Salting: Slice the mushrooms thickly and layer in a tall, air-tight jar, first with salt, then a layer of mushroom slices, salt, mushrooms, and so on, repeating the process until all the mushrooms are used up. Always use a good quality sea or rock salt. The mushrooms will need soaking before use.

Wild mushroom butter: Close chop and lightly fry the mushrooms before adding the butter (unsalted works best). Simmer for a couple of minutes, then pour into a suitable tub. Perfect with pasta or simply melted over meat or fish. The butter can be frozen.

Note: This section is not intended as a definitive guide to mushrooms and should not be used as one. Before trying any of the mushrooms or recipes described in it, always verify with other reliable sources that a correct identification of the fungus has been made and that it is safe to eat.

Nuts

Take a stout stick and a wicker basket and spend a late summer or early autumn afternoon hunting through the woods, hedgerows and scrubland and you’ll be amazed not only at the quantity and variety of nuts but also how easy they are to gather. In September, October and November look out for sweet chestnuts, hazelnuts and beech nuts. Packed with nutrients and often rich in protein, unsaturated fat, vitamins (including B6 and E) and carbohydrates, nuts are a staple food in some Mediterranean countries and for many vegetarians. They are thought to help prevent coronary heart disease.

Avoid picking nuts before they are ripe as they will taste bitter and discard any that smell musty. Use gloves and a hooked stick to get to any that are out of reach, but remember – you are sharing this important food with wildlife that doesn’t have the option of nipping out to the supermarket if stocks run out, so only pick a little of what’s available.

Beech nuts can be pressed to make oil or beech mast butter. (Beech trees only produce good mast, or encased nuts, every 5 to 8 years, depending on growing conditions.) The nuts are very small and must be gathered as soon as they fall, so some people think they’re too much effort. Although time-consuming to gather they are excellent when roasted. Keep the nuts indoors for 12 to 24 hours after collecting to allow the husks to burst open so that you can shake out the three little nuts inside. Remove the leathery outer skins from the nuts and place them on a baking tray in a single layer. Roast in a hot oven for 5–10 minutes, checking that they don’t burn, shake on a little salt and eat warm.

One of the most traditional wild food recipes is for acorn ‘coffee’. It is a bitter drink but boiling the acorns whole for 20 minutes or so before peeling can help reduce this. Then treat them as you would coffee beans – simply grind and filter before drinking.

Sweet chestnut, Castanea sativa

A delicious and traditional way to eat sweet chestnuts is simply to roast them. Prick the skins first to avoid explosion. Fresh chestnuts also make an excellent stuffing for poultry and the French marrons glacés are a Christmas treat not to be missed. To make marrons glacés, split the fresh chestnut skins (with the chestnuts still inside) and boil them for a few minutes so that the skins are easier to remove. Take off the skins and the membrane and boil the chestnuts for an additional 20 minutes to soften them. Make a sugar syrup by boiling together equal quantities of sugar and water. Add the drained chestnuts to the syrup and simmer gently for one hour, ensuring that they do not boil over or catch on the bottom of the pan. Remove from the syrup, place on a baking tray and coat with granulated sugar. Bake in the oven for a few minutes or until the sugar has glazed the nuts. Take out of the oven, sprinkle with a little sugar and allow to cool. Heavenly!

Hazelnut, Corylus avellana

Fight off the birds and squirrels and you can pick hazelnuts (also known as cobnuts) from September until November. Eat them raw or roasted in the top of a medium oven for about 10 minutes. Add salt and eat them hot, served in a paper cone, preferably in front of an open fire. For the slightly more adventurous, they also make an excellent addition to a nut and berry praline.

Nut and mixed berry praline

This is a really quick solution to satisfy a sweet craving using a selection of foraged nuts and berries. It is absolutely delicious.

butter, for greasing

280g/10oz/scant 1½ cups granulated sugar

2 tbsp honey

2 handfuls mixed nuts, such as chestnuts, walnuts and hazelnuts

½ handful mixed berries

Grease a 30 × 25cm/12 × 10in baking tray. Put the sugar and 125ml/4fl oz/½ cup water in a saucepan and heat over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved, then increase to a moderate heat until the liquid takes on a dazzling golden colour. Stir in the honey, nuts and berries, then pour into the baking tray. Leave until cold, then break up into pieces. Absolutely delicious!

Plants and seafood from the seashore

There is something quite magical about standing on a beach, smelling the salt in the air and hearing the waves either gently lapping back and forth or crashing in and out, depending on the weather. The same stretch of coastline can be tranquil and romantic one day yet dark and foreboding the next. But look past the drama and there is food everywhere.

Seaweed is ridiculously underrated and it baffles me why more people don’t eat it. High in minerals, trace elements, proteins and vitamins (A, B, B12, C and D), not only is it good for humans and used in many medicines, but if washed and hung up to dry it makes a wonderful winter supplement crumbled into animal feed. It is also a fantastic organic fertilizer. It is best picked in late spring from shingle and rocky beaches and most shores. Seaweed should not be cut too close to the base of the plant so that it won’t be killed off completely and will be able to regrow. Always wash in clean, fresh water before cooking.

Forage along the seashore for shellfish whenever there’s an ‘r’ in the month (September to April) as these tend to be the cooler, non-breeding months when there’s less chance of picking up a bad one. Work at low tide, bearing in mind that the water can turn within minutes. Always learn the tide times before venturing out. An hour either side of low tide is ideal (if you plan on working a mud flat, be especially vigilant, and if in doubt, take a local guide). Another essential is to check out the cleanliness of the beach you intend to comb – it’s well worth spending an hour or so researching this on the Internet before setting out.

Cockles, clams and razor clams

When molluscs are good, they are incredibly good. But for every person who raves about them, there’s always someone else with a horror story about food poisoning or similar. But a little knowledge and attention to detail can eliminate most of the risk concerned with eating bad shellfish. Always collect from ‘clean’ beaches with a good reputation for its shellfish (again, check online). And at the point of cooking, make sure the shellfish is clean, healthy looking and, most important, alive.

Cockling is incredible fun but it pays to go prepared as cockles tend to hide just beneath the surface of the sand around the low-water mark. A garden rake is therefore the ideal tool with which to trawl back and forth to bring them to the surface. Find a good patch of cockles and you can drag up dozens in no time at all – but the art certainly is in finding a good patch. If you don’t have time to speculate, head for well-known cockling sites, but expect some friendly competition.

Some clams can be harvested with a rake in much the same way as cockles. The alternative is to walk along the top of the beach where the high tide reaches and look out for two small dips in the sand, about a finger’s width apart, and then start digging down.

Mostly found along the furthest low-water mark, razor clams hide just beneath the surface of the sand waiting for the sea to come back in, which is when they will pop up and head off. So the best trick I’ve found is to fool them into thinking that the tide has turned by pouring a little seawater down their holes and grabbing them when they make an appearance. An alternative is to pour salt into the holes, which is said to irritate them. Razor clams can be a bit gritty but are good to eat after having been washed properly and soaked for a couple of hours in clean, slightly saline water.

Limpets

There are many different ways of prizing a limpet from a rock but I have always found the most effective is to run the edge of a palette knife between the limpet and the stone. Once they are free, treat them as mussels (see below).

Mussels

The first time I ever tried mussels was along the Champs-Elysées in Paris. Moules and frites – all those mussels, all that sauce, all that garlic! Sensational! It may be difficult to recreate the atmosphere of downtown Paris but it’s not hard to recreate the dish. Mussels are incredibly common along the coastline and tend to attach themselves in clumps, which makes life a little easier! As with all shellfish, make certain they are alive before you cook them, clean them well and debeard them with a pair of tweezers (well worth the extra effort).

Marsh samphire, Salicornia europaea

Samphire is a seashore plant, not a seaweed, and can be gathered along the coastline. Also known as glasswort (it was once used in the glass-making process), it is traditionally picked on 21 June, the longest day of the year, but can also be found throughout July and August. When young and sweet it can be eaten raw; if slightly older and larger it will benefit from cooking in a little salt water. Samphire goes particularly well with fish.

Sea lettuce, Ulva lactuca

Famous for containing more vitamin A (the growth vitamin) than butter, sea lettuce is one of the most common seaweeds and can be found all along the shoreline among the rocks and rock pools. The best time to gather it is just as the sea is turning from high to low tide. As the water retreats you can pick up clumps of it – fresh, still wet and very green. Wash and use in a salad or, if you are feeling particularly daring, add a small amount to a seafood stir-fry.