I visited Hannah Nicholls and Carol Hunt several times during my 2016 work sabbatical taking in an Autumn Forage a Kentish 1-2-1 and a Nature Awareness Day and when my wife said that she'd come on a forage I couldn't re-book quickly enough.
Hannah was running a family course so we went a little further on with Carol and got ourselves set up. Like the previous time it was noted that Carol does bring a lot of resources with her and there was definite foraging evidence around us from the wildlife.
Once we'd got a tea or coffee Carol kicked off with some general points about foraging and some plant information with a Buzzard occasionally gracing us with it's majestic presence. The course was running on a day that was due to get in excess of thirty degrees so Carol suggested a forage walk which was mostly under the tree canopy.
And she was off with copious information, alternative and Latin names and information on plants that were edible, non-edible or useful in a non-food way.
Of the many plants and trees growing on the first part oft he walk the Yellow Pimpernel (Lysimachia nemorum) and Common Figwort (Schropularia nodosa).
The first collectable edible soon hoved in view, Wood Sorrel (Oxalis acetosella), and in good quantities. Here Carol is making it abundantly clear which plant she is referring to.
Folk pitched in after a quick nibble and collected a good quantity of it. The sorrel wasn't due to be used but Carol decided to add an impromptu extra sauce to the menu.
I often use my camera case to collect stuff I find on walks so I offered it up as a Wood sorrel receptacle for folk to put their handfuls in.
I noted in the Autumn forage blog that we didn't move very far in the opening part of the forage walk and again it proved to be so with plenty of notables within viewing distance of our base. Some folk might have thought we should have wandered further in the time but what's the point of sauntering past plants that are worth talking about?
But back to the forage. Just over the other side of the glade was a decent stand of nettles (Urtica dioica). They had flowered so the leaves aren't in an edible condition but the seeds are there for the taking. As I undrstood it the seeds were packed with energy but interestingly it's more the case that they are adrenal stimulaters which gives you a sort of flight or fight rush.
Often a season can throw up oddities, indeed I've read reports of several Autumn fungi appearing now in the UK and within the woods there were some Redcurrants starting to ripen.
We went down a narrow track and found some Hairy Bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) and Cleavers (Galium aparine). The former was useful lesson as initially Carol pulled the sample in the left picture from nowhere, but she got folk to look closely and it was everywhere once you got your eye in.
I've tried Cleavers before and personally think that it is one of the more palatable countryside greens (see this spring tonic blog) but the fact that they are related to coffee and the seeds can make a basic drink has left me thinking that I must get round to trying it.
A little further down the track Carol spotted some Corn Mint (Mentha arvensis). It was useful seeing it as it is quite a light green colour and is downy and I'm sure I've seen it before however seeing, touching, and smelling is invaluable with ID.
The forage had been a bespoke affair to this point but for the final observation we were led to a Cherry tree that had fallen but was still alive. It was explained that every year it offers up Chicken-of-the-Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus) and whilst they were past their best it had at least three separate examples for us to see. Personally I can't abide mushrooms apart from mushroom confectionery prepped with booze and chocolate.
And at this point we turned back to our cooking circle, it was our turn to do some work. Carol had explained that we were doing four different dishes (plus her extra Sorrel sauce) and that there would be a Middle Eastern theme to them. We divided up into groups and once sorted we chose which dish to do by it's complexity. I was with my wife in the 'more complex' chicken dish group.
I'd been asked if I could be the fire monitor as Carol knew that I was knowledgeable enough to be trusted which was nice. Always happy to be in charge of fire.
And so we got our recipe sheets, or rather directions with ingredients listed because Carol was keen for us to feel our way through the dishes, judging by eye rather than a preset amount or weight.
She sat overseeing us and occasionally popped up with some information on ingredients, the above shot shows a talk about Marjoram (Origanum vulgare) which like the Corn Mint earlier I think I've seen out and about but never been able to nail the ID.
I then set my camera up on time lapse mode to get ahem, a flavour of what the preparation was like. This is the team my wife and I were in having a confabulation about the forthcoming chicken dish whilst I sorted the fire out...
This is the heavy Dutch oven that they asked me to get on the fire as it being done was key to the dish progression. Even though we'd positioned cooking shelves over the fire I elected to chuck it in the embers for a while to give it a boost.
And that set the tone for the period of time we were cooking. I really can't be more specific time wise than that to be honest because as we were beavering away in a woodland setting cooking over fire you just became absorbed in the moment. It also helped that the attendees were a decent bunch too. Note how good the fire looks in the right hand side picture!
The fire became and stayed as a predictably busy focus for the activities with pots coming and going and the fire continually being maintained by yours truly. Slowly but surely the dishes came together. Here I'm starting to cook the seasoned chicken which will go with the cooked rice and the Molokhia.
Vegetable components came together too.
The falafels with Nettle seeds (that we gathered) Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea), Thistle (Cirsium sp.) and mint are ready to be cooked.
The nettle mushroom and chorizo crostini starters were ready to devour, well pick over for me because of the mushrooms. Once the offending articles were flicked out I still managed to condense two crostinis into one satisfying morsel. Hannah timed a visit over to us just right and enjoyed one too.
Then the falafels were ready and presented by the group that made them for us all to get stuck into next.
With the chicken and the rice now cooked we added Tree mallow ((Malva arborea) seed pods ('cheeses') and cut Burdock stems to the rice.
This flavoured rice was for the stuffed Tree Mallow leaves with Ground Ivy, Wild Majoram and dried Hogweed seeds (Heracleum sphondylium).
The Mallow leaf Molokhia was cooked and served up in a bowl with the chicken and rice alongside it. Personally I think this was the best presented dish but of course I'm biased...But correct.
And finally onto the delicious Rose petal Panacotta with fresh red fruit coulis which included Rose petals, Raspberries, Strawberries and Rose petal Honey. Interestingly due to a dietary need the diary element was replaced with Coconut milk and didn't suffer for the change, in fact it may make it a bit more achievable on a bushcraft camp as coconut milk doesn't need chilling.
Just before we hit the starters my wife gave me a nudge and reminded me that I had a camera bag full of Wood Sorrel. I handed it to Carol who beavered away to blend leaf and sugar in a mortar and pestle. The bespoke extra was rather pesto like in appearance but the contrasting flavours made it a real sweet and sour treat.
Carol finished up taking some folk through some of her books. My wife and I had to make a move so we did a bit of a final wash up and I bid Carol and Hannah farewell. Carol had a slightly bigger crowd than last time but marshalled us all with a quiet confidence, another course for beginner and not so newbie to take something away from.
