Westerly or
southwesterly, 4 or 5.
Slight or
moderate.
Occasional
rain later.
Good,
occasionally moderate later.
When I was a
child, one of our neighbours was an expert in funghi. All kinds of edible
mushrooms. So, when I went for mushroom foraging with my grandmother, we brought
our baskets to him and he separated the good from the bad. He installed a
mighty fear of foraging into me:, every time I had a bad mushroom, he lectured
us on the dangers of collection something from the wild without knowing what we
do.
Idiot. He
should have educated us in a positive way.
All he achieved
was a fear of going foraging again. It took me nearly 40 years to have the guts
to collect wild garlic in spring. I passed them for years, I could smell them,
I knew it tastes nice, but I was afraid. The leaves of the Lily of the Valley,
highly toxic, look similar. Also the ones of autumn crocus. But they are easy
to distinguish: One smells of garlic when rubbed, the others not. Wild garlic
is always one leaf per stem, lily two or more, autumn crocus more.
One spring I
had enough, and armed with countless prints from the internet I went to the
Thames, rubbed each stupid leave and came home with a sensible bounty (please don’t
take too much or rip it out with the bulbs, or you won’t get them next year again).
I made then my first wild garlic pesto and never looked back.
Due to the
move and the fact that I don’t know the spots around here yet, I missed the
early season. Yes, they are still around but already in bloom. While you can
also eat the pretty flowers, the leaves are much tougher than in April. Behold
the glory of the internet and the fact that Scotland is a few weeks behind in
vegetation. So today I got my booty box. While the postage was higher than the
products, I paid less for 3 bags of wild garlic than for one in London.
And as to
the seaweed: I have the sea right in front of me and twice per day low tide.
The rocks are full of different kinds of seaweed, but I don’t have a clue. So I
got myself a book today and will start to forage in the future.
The recipe
is for more than one portion. But wild garlic pesto keeps well in the fridge
for at least a fortnight and if you freeze it in portions, you can extend it to
2 month.
Wild Garlic Pesto
1 large
bunch (about 200 gr) of wild garlic, washed
1 twig of fresh
basil, washed
60gms pine
nuts, toasted
squeeze of
lemon juice
sea salt
200 ml olive
oil
60gms
parmesan cheese
Cut the
leaves with a scissor (trust me on this one: in the food processor the stalks
tend to cling around the blade and you will spend age pushing them down. Better
take the few seconds to snip them). Place all the ingredients into a food
processor apart from the olive oil and parmesan and blitz for a minute or two;
then slowly pour in the olive oil until blended. Put your grated parmesan into
a kilner jar (or distribute it around several freezer bags), add the pesto,
stir and let it sit for a while at room temperature. Since you used a food
processor the mixture will look cloudy and creamy. Only after a certain time
the olive oil separates a bit. Now either put your jar in the fridge or your
bags into the freezer.
What to do
with it:
First of all
you can use it of course as pesto with all kinds of pasta, gnocchi or courgetti.
But you can also use it in place of garlic butter: Top a steak or bread (bake),
fill your chicken Kiev or your tofu Kiev with it. Use it in a salad dressing.
Add a bit to your omelette. Top tomato/feta cheese/mushrooms with it before you
put them under the grill. Make a pea and wild garlic frittata. Spoon it into a
green asparagus soup. Add it to minestrone. Spread it over your Panini before
you fill it with tomato and mozzarella. Swirl it into your homemade Focaccia before you bake it. Put
it into a risotto. Add it to mixed vegetables. Top salmon with it, wrap both in
puff pastry and bake. Add it to mash. Eat it with Jersey or other young
potatoes. Add it to quark. Spread it over puff pastry, make a Swiss roll, cut
slices, top with egg wash and bake. Or just spread it over good sourdough
bread, top with slices of avocado and enjoy it in its natural state.
No verdict but a link
Get them
while you can, the season is short.
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