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Pick your own... with a twist
DOES a dinner of hawthorn, dandelion and hogweed sound appetising? If so, the Foraging Lunch at The Pheasant in Keyston may be for you. Features editor Joni Ager tucks in.
Ray Mears has made his living out of foraging for edible shoots and leaves in the middle of the outback.
Viewers have watched with horror as he feasted on all kinds of bushtucker, not all of which has been particularly tasty.
Now a pub near Thrapston has launched its own take on Mears' unique dietary habits.
Last weekend staff at The Pheasant in Keyston held their first foraging lunch, inviting customers to venture into the surrounding countryside to hunt for their supper.
Around 35 of us gathered at the pub on Saturday morning before setting off for our foraging destination near Sudborough.
After a couple of hours spent searching for edible plants, the group returned to the pub where they got to sample some of the delights.
The event was led by Yun Hider, a professional 'forager' who runs the Mountain Food Company which specialises in sourcing and supplying wild herbs, salads and vegetables.
Liam Goodwill, head chef at The Pheasant, said: "I met Yun about three months ago at a food festival and got talking and we decided this was something we were keen to do.
"It is quite exciting. There is a growing interest in this kind of thing and it is good to find people like Yun who have been doing it for a long time."
Our forage took us along a public footpath just outside Sudborough and within yards Yun finds a plant he fancies the look of. It is hawthorn, which he tells us he has used to make jelly.
He said: "It is known as the poor man's bread and butter because children used to eat the leaves on the way to school.
"Hawthorn berries are really quite filling. Its blossom has a nutty taste and I have made preserves out of the flowers, and the berry tastes a bit like an over-ripe apple and isn't bad."
Yun has been foraging for 12 years and goes out gathering every week.
He said: "I was out in the forest one day and I had not taken a packed lunch so I munched on some rosehip which was delicious and filled me up."
But how do you know which plants are safe to eat and which aren't?
He said: "The identification of plants is the most crucial factor in this business – get it wrong and you have problems.
"If you've been in the SAS they tell you to rub it on your skin or your tongue but just by touching some plants you are at risk, certainly in the mushroom world.
"The fly agaric mushroom, which is the red and white one, induces a death-like sleep. The Laplanders used to feed it to their reindeer and drink their pee so they could enjoy it safely.
"Eat a raw elderberry and it induces vomiting. The Romans used to eat 16-course meals and would eat elderberries after 12 or 14 courses in order to carry on eating."
Yun is a passionate supporter of wild food and it seems his views are shared by some people in very high places.
He said: "The Queen came down to Wales last year and asked the chef to make dandelion and apple pie. It was March and there were no dandelions in sight. We thought she was playing a game with us.
"I suggested we use the root and flavour some custard with it."
Yun recommends doing your research and learning about one plant at a time.
He said: "You are not officially allowed to dig up the roots of wild plants because it is the end of the plant but you can pick the plants.
As long as you don't do it in commercial quantities you should be okay."
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Weather for Kettering
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: -8 C to -1 C
Wind Speed: 3 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North west
