Unbought Delicacies

People frequently ask me why I enjoy foraging so much and an answer can often be hard to frame in simple words, but there's a passage in a piece of poetry I came across a few years ago that beautifully sums it up for me.

I saw a man,
An old Cilician, who occupied
An acre or two of land that no one wanted,
A patch not worth the ploughing, unrewarding
For flocks, unfit for vinyards; he however
By planting here and there among the scrub
Cabbages or white lilies and verbena
And flimsy poppies, fancied himself a king
In wealth, and coming home late in the evening
Loaded his board with unbought delicacies.
He was the first in spring to gather roses,
In autumn, to pick apples; and when winter
Was gloomily still cracking rocks with cold
And choking streams with ice, he was already
Shearing the locks of the tender hyacinth
While grumbling at the lateness of the summer
And absence of west winds. And his again
Were the first bees to breed, the first to swarm
Abundantly and have their foaming honey
Squeezed from the combs. Plenty of limes he had
And laurestines; and all the fruit a tree
Promised in blossom-time's array to bear
It bore in autumn.

From The Georgics, by Virgil.
Translated by LP Wilkinson

To be able to walk some unregarded piece of land and find treasures there is very special. Take any piece of scrub, stand in the centre of it and take your time to look around. Look really closely, what do you see? A plot overgrown with weeds? Quite possibly, but are you really sure? Every 'wasteland' is a realm of possibilities, all things within it with a purpose.

This week from my patch not worth the ploughing, I've been harvesting, among other things, elderflower and clover, sea beet, samphire and sea purslane (such is the benefit of having a tidal estuary nearby!). My basket of goodies has been heaving to be honest, and it always brings me joy to see such abundance. My elderflowers unsurprisingly will be used for wine, cordial and of course the very special delights of elderflower fritters. My sea beet will be the main ingredient in a mouthwateringly pretty and extremely tasty sea beet and mushroom pie (see method below). The samphire, however, is best served as simply as possible. After washing and thoroughly picking over your harvest, simply trim off the lower stems and steam them lightly - they should be bright green and still a little al dente - then serve with a squeeze of lemon juice, a sprinkling of seasoning and a knob of butter. Superb! (By the way, you can also serve the sea purslane in this manner and very good it is too.)

I also have some chamomile for a soothing tea and a few good sized bunches of wall rocket, the pungency of which I really love. I recommend using it paired up with a good strong cheddar in a salad accompanied by a chunk of fresh crusty brown bread.

There is a great deal of quiet pleasure to be found in discovering virtue where others see none. Quite apart from the prospect of perhaps filling your basket with the fruits from the tree that you spotted on your last walk, there are sights, sounds and aromas to relish too. Birdsong, trees rustling in the breeze, the slap and flurry of the pigeon taking flight, distant traffic (if you are lucky, nearby loud traffic if you are not!), insects buzzing and the ticking calls of blue tits, children laughing, the scent of elderflowers in the hedgerow, or damp leaf mould as you track the fungi in the wood, clean, rain-washed spring breezes, the brilliant colours of a summer sunset, crisp cool autumn, the stab of the thorn as you reach for sloe or blackberry, even the burn of the nettle on bare skin. These things are all part of the patient art of foraging and I love each and every aspect.

I know where to find the shy and tiny sweet-tasting wild strawberry, to spot where the wild deer trod. Whatever the season, each walk will bring me these and myriad other wonders (such as spotting minute spiderlings huddled in their finely webbed cradles, or the snail and the ladybird sharing a leaf). The joy is in the detail and the pleasure of drinking in and meditating on each one.

Quite apart from the healthy benefits of being out in the fresh air getting exercise (such 'benefits' that I would tend to naturally shy away from as being perhaps just a little too close to a duty than a pleasure), foraging is - thankfully unlike golf - a good walk enhanced by the delightful prospect of loading our board with unbought delicacies.

Sea beet and mushroom pie

This is a very simple but extremely tasty foraged veggie dish. Use sea beet and in-season wild mushrooms such as St Georges, field mushrooms or blewits. I admit I cheated and used frozen pastry for the example shown but that's just because I was feeling lazy!

Using a 7" tin lightly bake a 'blind' puff pastry base - don't let this overcook as you will be putting it back into the oven later. Make up about half a pint of savoury white sauce (you can add some flavoursome cheese too if you like). Layer the bottom of the pastry base with lightly sautéed, sliced mushrooms, pour over a little of the sauce then a layer of sea beet, sweated down and seasoned. Add another layer of sauce, more mushrooms/sauce/sea beet etc and continue until the case is full and then top it off with a puff pastry crust and bake again.

The end result is very lush and great served hot or cold.

Carol

photos (c) Carol Hunt 2009