This post is based on a recent article I wrote for the Yorkshire Post Magazine. The beautiful cheese featured in the photograph above is a soft goat's cheese, hand made by Lisa Cutcliffe of Edulis Wild Food. Lisa wraps the soft cheese curds in muslin lined with the flowers and leaves of herbs - in this case 'Herb Robert' and allows the whey to drain away. The cheese is unwrapped when ready to reveal the herbs. A link to the original article in the Yorkshire Post can be found here.
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The sky threatens rain as dark clouds scud across the sky. I am in Meanwood Park, 72 acres of beautiful woodland, situated a stone’s throw from the centre of Leeds for an afternoon of urban foraging with Lisa Cutcliffe, who has a passion for finding, cooking and eating all things wild and delicious. Her company Edulis runs wild food cooking days and foraging courses for enthusiastic beginners, chefs, community groups, herbalists and adventurous home cooks.
Cities are not the first place I think of foraging for food but Lisa puts me right “There can easily be 40-50 different edible species of plants in a typical park. Foraging isn’t just about nettles and blackberries, there’s so much more! There are edible seeds, leaves, flowers, fungi, roots, shoots and fruits with the most amazing shapes, flavours and textures to be found”.
Our four hour forage begins with a safety briefing and a gentle stroll, dodging rain showers as we go. There are five others in our group. The youngest is 7 year old Jacob Dent who has come along with his grandfather Neil; Inava Iman, a student studying Arabic and International Relations at the University of Leeds and David and, Barbara Hudson from South Yorkshire who have been given the course as a gift.
We haven’t walked far before I see Lisa pointing to a slim branch of beautiful pink flowers. “Cherry blossom makes a wonderful marzipan-flavoured syrup. The Japanese celebrate cherry blossoms, regarding their brief flowering period as a metaphor for the transience of life.”
I know a few edible wild plants but it is not long before Lisa takes me into unfamiliar territory as she points out a shrub bearing masses of tiny, brilliant orange flowers. “This is one of my favourite plants, Darwin’s barberry. The flowers are surprisingly tangy, and there will soon be bunches of small, blue berries hanging below the spiny stems. They taste tart but make a delicious vinegar.”
Lisa holds a St George's mushroom on the left and common vetch on the right.
In a patch of earth the simple white flowers of alpine strawberries push up from their leaves. “In a few weeks they will form tiny strawberries tasting like bubblegum” Lisa comments as her eyes comb the area for more edibles. She points out a stand of wild raspberry canes growing nearby.
Lisa’s interest in nature began with her parents and grandparents. She remembers poring over their field guides on wildflowers, butterflies and birds at her family home in Winchester, near the New Forest. She went on to study biology at Leeds University.
I ask Lisa what she cooks at home. “Nearly all my meals contain a foraged ingredient. I even top an ‘emergency’ shop-bought pizza with wild garlic pesto and weeds from the garden when I haven’t got time to cook!”
About 15 years ago Lisa learned the highly-prized porcini mushroom, Boletus edulis, grew in the UK and made it her mission to find one. It took several years but sparked an interest in finding and identifying wild fungi. “Mushrooms are fun because you have to really study them and they’re more elusive and less predictable than plants, meaning finding edible fungi is all the more rewarding.”
Lisa’s enthusiasm is infectious. She spots another plant growing in the grass. Unprompted, young Jacob tells us “it’s a ribwort plantain”. Delighted he knew this, she explains “You can eat the green bud before the halo of tiny white flowers appears, they’re great in a stir-fry. You can also use the mature seeds in breads and seed mixes.”
As we shelter beneath an ash tree from another shower Lisa offers us tiny jars of pickled ash keys and wild garlic flower buds to taste. We crunch the samples and savour the delicately-sweetened pickling mixture. This is a delightful experience. They taste wonderful.
Nibbling as we go -
Inava Iman tries bitter cress and Lisa tempts us with pickled ash keys
We meander in a loose crocodile formation into a thickly-wooded area where we discover patches of wood sorrel with heart-shaped leaves, arranged in threes, and bearing tiny white flowers. We taste the delicate leaves and I am struck by the zingy, citrus flavour. “That’s the oxalic acid you can taste. “To me, wood sorrel tastes of Granny Smith’s apple skin. It’s delicious in salads”, Lisa tells us.
My favourite find was the delicate, winding tendrils and purple flowers of common vetch which tasted of fresh garden peas. We found mint and watercress growing by a stream. “These should always be picked from above the waterline.” Lisa advises.
We spotted bistort, a kind of dock used to make the traditional West Yorkshire dish ‘dock pudding’; coltsfoot flowers used to make cough medicine, and jack-by-the-hedge, a delicious garlic-and mustard-flavoured leaf.
The most curious thing we sampled were slithers of immature stinkhorn known as a witch’s egg - found clustered around the roots of a wind-felled tree.
Lisa holding the witch's egg. It had a strong 'mushroomy' flavour.
I was also fascinated by the tiny, golden disc-shaped seeds of common hogweed, which taste of bitter oranges. Lisa uses them to flavour pannacotta, tagine and spiced cakes.
We ended with a gastronomic finale sitting at a picnic bench in the park. Sipping cups of steaming hot linden-blossom tea, we slathered homemade goat’s cheese, flavoured with five different types of wild garlic, on crisp biscuits with chutneys, tucked into lilac cupcakes, crunched through crystallised douglas fir needles and sampled lilac blossom vodka.
And what was the point of this foraging? I was reminded in our age of ready meals, fast food and obesity how much more there is to food that buying it off the shelf in a supermarket. I learned about the importance of seasons, how food grows, the range of natural flavours in wild plants and how to use common wild foods in my everyday recipes.
I will keep in mind the wise words of Michael Pollan, food activist and author of Food Rules who advises “Eat wild foods when you can.” They are some of the most nutritious, tasty foods around.
Lilac blossom flavoured cupcakes and some really gorgeous infusions made with foraged ingredients.
Tips for safe and sustainable foraging:
- Know what is edible and what is not. ‘If in doubt, leave it out’
- Use reputable books to help identify edible plants and fungi
- Sign up for a course with an experienced tutor
- Learn when plants are in season, this can help to identify them
- Do not uproot whole plants without permission and never take everything from a colony of any species
- Learn about poisonous ‘look-a-likes’. Lily of the valley leaves can look like wild garlic
- Check local bye laws to see if foraging is allowed, for example it may be a SSSI
- Avoid picking from the edge of busy roads or a path where dogs walk and plants can be gritty.
A big thank you to Lisa for taking me foraging.
Further details of Lisa’s forging courses can be found at www.eduliswildfood.co.uk
Follow the link here to read the original article published in the Yorkshire Post Magazine June 4th 2016.