Exmoor Lockdown Diary 9 - Wild Food Foraging With The Experts
Quite a few people have been contacting me to ask more about foraging for wild food at this time of year. Not a bad option if you live in the countryside during this lockdown…
In fact, given that I’ve just one onion and two carrots left in the vegetable cupboard, it is the only option for me at present because I am determined not to add to any of the massive problems by breaking my own self-imposed lockdown. We have other foodstuff in the freezer and in the store cupboard, so if I can help sustain our diet by picking a few things out in the countryside, I will.
But I realise this in only an option for those of us living out in the countryside. If we can stroll directly out into totally unpopulated areas without seeing another person (as I can), then why not grab some of nature’s bounty? We’ll be helping to take the load off the conventional food supply and many edible plants - such as the common stinging nettle - are commonly regarded as weeds.
And, by the way, in case you think this is an elitist sport only applicable to those who live out in the sticks, then please note than almost 15 million people in the UK live in highly rural areas…
I am fortunate in this respect for two reasons… Not only do I live deep in the countryside which is waking up fast in this wonderful spring weather, but I’ve also interviewed quite a few top chefs down the years and have been lucky enough to go out wild-food foraging with them…
One of those chefs was the talented Allister Bishop, who used to be head chef at a hotel near Salcombe…
Chef Allister Bishop out foraging in the Devon countryside before the coronavirus
Good chefs like to use first class ingredients that are as fresh as can be, so imagine what it must be like working in a vast city far from fields, seas, rivers, moorlands or anywhere else that provides edible produce. Then imagine such a chef being set free of the urban jungle to work on a beautiful coast surrounded by verdant countryside rich in fresh ingredients.
Or, to put it into the words of Allister: “I spent over 25 years working in central London where I was getting ingredients that were two or three days old - here I am getting stuff that’s two or three hours old.”
I first met Allister back in the winter when he was still reeling with joy after a year spent at the idyllically situated hotel in South Devon. He told me then something about his career and about how delighted he was to be living and working in an area where he was surrounded by the finest fresh ingredients imaginable.
Allister held executive chef positions at places like Harrods and The Meridian in Piccadilly, so he is a man who knows what he is doing when it comes to pots, pans and the things you put in them.
When he told me then how happy he was wandering around the countryside on his days off looking for the best local produce he could lay his hands on, we discussed how we would have a day out in late spring foraging for wild food. And that is exactly what we did in the company of Simon Richardson, a professional forager, based in East Cornwall just outside Looe.
Simon supplies professional kitchens with foraged sea vegetables and wild herbs when Allister hasn’t the time to go out picking, and normally works across the handful of large Cornish estates where he has permission to hunt plants that many people would regard as weeds.
However, the likes of sea-purslane, sea-aster, sea-arrowgrass, rock samphire and goosefoot are now becoming trendy and many top chefs are beginning to use them because of one simple reason: they are delicious.
Why we British do not have a culinary tradition of eating such things is a mystery - just like I am puzzled as to why we’ve never taken to incorporating free, plentiful and safe-to-eat seaweeds in our diets. Whatever the reason, we now find ourselves living at a time when the wild food harvest is being taken ever more seriously, which is a good thing for those of us who love to explore new things to eat.
But there are two important things to note when discussing the subject - one is that a great many wild plants can make you ill or even worse, so you have to know what you are doing - and secondly you need to know how to forage carefully so that you do not damage plants.
“There has been a huge increase in interest in foraged food, but there are dangers,” said Simon as we prepared to go foraging. “Wild watercress, for example, likes growing alongside hemlock and water dropwort (both potentially deadly) and it’s also possibly got the liver fluke parasite on it - but if you pick it in the right place in the right way, you’re safe.
“So it is all about knowledge - which I’ve got after 13 years of foraging and through reading up on the subject and going out with more experienced people than me. There are a lot of edible plants that grow around estuaries and creeks,” he added. “And the chefs love all those because they go so with things like fish.”
As we walked towards a forgotten corner of salt marsh, Allister commented: “It’s a case of using it all properly - you mustn’t over salt things when your are working with plants like these. There’s no need to mess around with it at all - just respect it.
“I did four years at Harrods where I was executive sous chef - that’s the biggest kitchen in Northern Europe - there were 160 of us. Everything was made in store to supply the various food halls. It was great getting that retail experience. Before that I was executive chef at The Meridian, Piccadilly. I was there for five years - and that was a 260 bedroom hotel busy busy operation banqueting corporate clients.
“So I’ve had to change the way I look at what we create - you want to try and bring as much local produce in as you can. Getting to work with fresh produce like this is why I became a chef.
“And being out of the kitchen and seeing where the food is coming from is inspirational,” said Allister as we picked sea-purslane amid the saltings. “It also inspires the rest of the team, because a kitchen is not a one man show. Some chefs think it is, but I know I’m only as good as the rest of the team. Trying new ideas like working with these ingredients helps a lot.
“If the customer goes away happy trying a new experience - like eating sea-purslane or sea-aster that you certainly wouldn’t get in Asda or Lidl - that can only benefit us and also the local economy. It makes us more unique in what we are doing.
“I’ve seen this industry change so much over the last 30 years,” he continued as we drove to a South Hams beach in search of sea-kale. “Everything used to come in nice vac-packed bags and was so clinical. Now we get stuff with a bit of dirt on it and we wash it - but it’s all about real flavour.”
Next we went to Marlborough in the hills just behind the hotel to visit butcher Alex Brazier who has a flock of Devon Close Wool sheep which Allister often uses in lamb dishes. “It’s good meat because it takes that little bit longer to grow,” said Alex. “You are getting a little bit more fat, a lot more flavour. The sheep do very well here - there is a mild climate so they put on a good weight.”
To reiterate the warning…. Do be VERY CAREFUL if and when you go out foraging for wild food. We all know what a stinging nettle is (and as I’ve said before, they are good to eat) but establishing whether or not that plant in the stream is wild watercress is another matter altogether. Much more difficult If in doubt do not pick. THE NHS already has enough to do without clueless risk-takers joining the queue.
Devon lamb rump, Salcombe crab soufflé, minted pea & wild nettle puree, potato & seaweed croquette
Allister Bishop’s Devon lamb rump, Salcombe crab soufflé, minted pea & wild nettle puree, potato & seaweed croquette —- I realise this is quite a complex recipe and most people will not have the ingredients during the lockdown - but it might give you inspiration and of course you can always try making it once the world has returned to some semblance or normality…
4 lamb rumps
4 garlic cloves, cracked
2 sprigs of wild sorrel
2 sprigs of rosemary, plus extra for cooking the rumps
100ml of olive oil
2 tbsp of pomace oil
Marinade the lamb rumps for 24 hours in olive oil, crushed garlic cloves, sorrel, rosemary
Minted Pea & nettle purée
10g of shallots, very finely diced
10g chopped mint
2 x sprigs nettle tops washed throughly
1 tbsp of oil
200g of fresh garden peas
4g of salt
100ml of milk
Sweat shallots in oil until soft but not coloured. Add garden peas, nettle, salt and milk and simmer for 8 minutes. Drain milk into a jug and pour peas, nettles and mint into a blender. Blitz until ultra smooth adding enough of the milk to make a thickish purée. After blending, cool quickly as the colour will begin to fade.
Croquette
200g potatoes, quartered and turned into a dry mash potato
1 shallot, minced
100g of fresh dulce/ sea lettuce
15g of parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp rapeseed oil
150g of plain flour
3 large eggs, beaten
200g of panko breadcrumbs
oil, for frying
salt and fresh ground black pepper
Chop seaweed into a bowl, and fold in mash potato, lemon zest, chopped parsley and seasoning. Divide mix into even pieces and roll into balls with your hands. Place in fridge for 15 minutes to firm up. To coat the fritters place flour, beaten eggs and breadcrumbs in 3 bowls, seasoning with salt and pepper. Dip chilled croquettes first in flour, then eggs, then breadcrumbs. Return to fridge to chill for a few minutes.
Soufflé
150g of fresh white crab meat
300g of spinach
150 ml milk
33g of flour
30g of butter
1/2 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
53g of mature cheddar, grated
5 eggs, separated
16g of Parmesan, grated
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of pepper
Place the white crab meat into a bowl. Heat oil in a frying pan, add the spinach, so that it wilts. Remove and drain. Grease inside of the metal rings, place onto a greased baking tray. Divide spinach into 4 rings.
Bring flour, 115ml milk, butter, mustard and ground nutmeg to the boil, whisking continuously. Turn down heat, simmer for 2 minutes, remove from the heat. Add to a mixing bowl and whisk in 37g of grated cheddar until it melts.
Using a handheld electric whisk, whisk egg whites to the hard peak stage, add egg yolks and mix. Add crab and mix, fold in egg whites. Divide mix into the metal rings. Place in an oven set to 180°C for 12 minutes.
Combine the remaining cheddar and Parmesan in a bowl. Remove from the oven and place the grated cheddar and Parmesan on top. Allow the soufflés to cool. With a sharp knife, gently go round inside of the ring to remove.
Sauce
20g of shallots
50ml of dry white wine
1 bay leaf
200ml of brown chicken stock
20g of butter
salt and pepper
Remove some fat from lamb roasting tray and heat in small pan. Add shallots and leave to sweat until lightly browned, then deglaze with wine. Add bay leaf and simmer until reduced and pan is almost dry. Then, add chicken stock and reduce by 2/3, whisking in butter and checking seasoning.
To assemble
Place a roasting pan over a high heat and add the olive oil. Season lamb and seal until lightly golden brown all over. Transfer to oven and roast for 8 - 12 minutes, remove and rest. Slice and arrange.
Arrange the reheated puree, croquette and soufflé next to the lamb, drizzle with the sauce, garnish with foraged herbs and shelled peas.
Allister Bishop with cod loin on a bed of wild coastal vegetables
