My grandmother was a bit of a rebel, in earlier times she might even have been an outlaw, poaching on the local aristo’s land. She was always up for a drive in the countryside in case we “saw something”. She never conquered the seatbelt, called it the muzzle, “Help me with the muzzle” she’d say, and off we’d go.
In autumn her favourite places were woodlands, there’d be hazelnuts and sweet chestnuts to look for and fallen trees… The latter meant free fuel and she’d wrestle tree trunks larger than herself back to the car. Back seat down, car smelling of damp wood and mould, we’d check that the gate was closed before we set off with our booty.
“Always leave some, only take what you need” was her philosophy.
It’s nearly wild garlic time and that means mixed emotions for me. Seeing the carpet of green that follows the bluebells is joyous but it brings out the less thoughtful foragers. Wild garlic and other foraged ingredients on restaurant menus is worrying. Diners can feel good about eating locally sourced ingredients but “professional foragers” are stripping woodlands and hedgerows for produce to sell to restaurants. We already know the impact of irresponsible harvesting in other environments, e.g. fishing.
I turn my bag of wild garlic leaves and stems into pesto. In the food processor whizz a couple of handfuls of cashews nuts with a glug of olive oil into a paste and then add the washed leaves. Process until the leaves are coarsely chopped. Tip into a bowl, stir in a couple of tablespoons of grated Grana Padano, tbsp lemon juice and more olive oil to taste. Without the cheese it resembles Zhoug, with the addition of a large pinch of ground cumin and a green chilli at the first whizzing stage.
What do you think about “professional foragers”?
What’s your favourite wild garlic recipe?
I too subscribe to the National Trust's viewpoint that you should forage for personal usage rather than an industrial type foraging activity. I do like the recipes for the pesto.