Nik Westacott, West Dean foraging expert will be leading a wild food foray on the West Dean Estate on Thursday 20 October.

Nik Westacott - Chef and Foraging Expert

Foraging, especially for mushrooms, has long been a passion wild food expert and chef Nik Westacott.

“A lot of my colleagues wait for foragers to bring wild food finds to them but there is nothing better than being out and about seeking the ingredients myself, it helps to stop the plunder of wild food if people who know what they are looking for, gather it themselves.”

“Responsible harvesting of wild food and adherence to the Countryside Code is part and parcel of enjoying the countryside.

There’s nothing more frustrating than turning up at a favourite place to find it stripped bare and in West Dean, which is easily accessible to London, it’s becoming an all-too-common problem.

Written permission from landowners is essential for any gathering which is for more than personal use and, especially where pheasants and partridge are roaming, foragers must stick to public paths and not stray from them.

Our crazy summer has hastened the berry crops in the hedgerows and sloes are plentiful along with wild rosehips.

Wild Mushrooms

“It’s all down to rain now to really bring on the fungi. It’s still warm, although the nights are colder, so we should be in for a good mushrooming autumn.”

Nik will be leading a wild food foray on the West Dean Estate on Thursday 20 October.

Local food expert and writer Rosemary Moon will create a seasonal lunch to welcome foragers back after their hunting, before Nik cooks some of his favourite dishes with the proceeds of the morning and Rosemary and Nik share their combined knowledge of the foods of our local countryside with you.

This one-day food course is part of a year-round programme of food courses and food days which celebrate good food through a mix of talks, demos and feasting.

Wild fungi and the edible countryside food will take place at West Dean College, situated on the A286, six miles north of Chichester and six miles south of Midhurst.

Thursday 20 October,  9am – 5pm at a cost of Cost:  £107 per person.

BOOKING INFORMATION
To book a place on a short course please visit www.westdean.org.uk/college, e-mail bookingsoffice@westdean.org.uk  or call 0844 4994408

Gift vouchers for a short course can be purchased to the value of £10, £25, £50 or £100, and can be used for full or part payment of short course fees.

PLEASE NOTE!

Save 5% on all courses booked online
You will be entitled to a 10% discount on the full cost of your course booking if it is your first course at West Dean (telephone bookings only, excludes evening events).

For further information

We all know that Sloes make a great Sloe gin or Liqueur but combined with apples, they can also make a wonderful rich jelly.

Tiny purple sloes look like miniature plums and have a huge seed and very little flesh.  Although they can be used to make jam, you will spend a lot of time skimming off the stones for very little return, so using them to make a jelly is easier.

Sloes are best used with apples, firstly to even out their bitter taste and secondly to get the jelly to set.

Because you are making a jelly, this recipe is great for using up those scabby windfall or wild apples.

We use the spices to give the jelly a more rounded flavour and it is incredibly versatile.  Use like jam on nice fresh home made bread or scones, as an accompaniment to cold meats and rice pudding or even use as a marinade or glaze with duck or chicken.

You will need;

• A jam making pan
  

  Full of flavour

• About 6 – 8 jam jars with lids
• Jelly strainer
• Large glass bowl
• Long wooden spoon
• Jam thermometer
• Handkerchief size piece of muslin
• Saucer
• Large jug (comes in handy to take mixture from pan to strainer)

Ingredients;

• 2 Kg Sloes
• 2 Kg of cooking apples
• 2 Litres water
• 4 cloves
• 4 allspice berries
• 1 stick of cinnamon
• Approx 3- 4 Kg sugar (this will vary on the quantity of juice obtained).

Making the juice

Place the sloes in a sink or bucket of water and give a good “sloosh” around to get rid of any dirt and bugs.  Remove them from the water and put in a jam pan, taking out any leaves and bits of twig.  Don’t worry about removing any small stalks on the fruit.

Wash apples, chop roughly (including the skin and core) and add to the pan.

Add 2 Litres of water to the pan and simmer on a medium heat until all the fruit is pulpy, stir occasionally to stop fruit sticking to the base of the pan.

Place your jelly strainer over another equally large pan or bowl and strain the mixture, throw away the pulp (DO NOT put it in your compost bin – unless you want sloe bushes sprouting everywhere!).

Making the jelly

Put your saucer in the fridge.

Sterilise your jam jars.

Measure the juice and place in a jam pan, adding 1 Kg of sugar for each 1.5 litres of liquid.

Place the spices in a piece of muslin and tie at the top and add to the pan. (Klippits are handy for sealing the top of the muslin).

Heat on medium, stirring continuously until the sugar has dissolved.  Bring to the boil until jam temperature is reached (about 104 degrees).

Remove the saucer from the fridge and drizzle a little of the mixture onto it, let it cool for a few minutes.  If you take your finger or back of the spoon through it and it begins to wrinkle, it is ready for bottling, if not, keep trying every 10 minutes or so until this setting point is reached.

Take out the muslin bag of spices.

Fill the sterilised jars and seal immediately.  Leave to cool and label.

Course info: Coastal Wild Food

A unique introduction to the coastal wild food to be found on the shores of Morecambe Bay in Cumbria.

Hedgerow foods are fantastic sources of vitamin C

Knowledge and use of wild food brings you into a much deeper connection with your local environment and also provides you with healthy, nutritious and balanced food throughout the year.

It is a constant reminder of the changing seasons and your ancient ties with the world around you.

The environment of Morecambe Bay near Arnside is unique in posessing a wide range of coastal habitat, from salt marsh, cliffs, pebble shores, rocky shores and expanses of sand and mud.

It is also ringed by coastal forest and wild flower meadows.

This makes it an ideal place to learn about coastal wild food as well as learn about a wide range of other plants.

This one day course is spent entirely outside.

The course will spend the morning walking and learning about coastal wild food before stopping for lunch. In the afternoon you will explore the forest and meadows. The course will include:

• salt marsh plants
• seaweeds
• shore plants
• forest edibles
• edible small animals such as insects or shellfish

A guide to the plants found during the day will also be given out for you to take home.

Sonny has been foraging for 7 years and has taught wild food courses for the Lake District National Park and the Flora of the Fells festival as well as running a range of wild food walks for communities across Cumbria for a number of years.

Booking details

1 day course at Arnside near Kendal in Cumbria on Saturday 27th August. Cost £60.

To book go towww.skillsforsustainableliving.co.uk or ring Sonny Khan on 01539 740 694.

To most gardener’s the Dandelion is just a pernicious weed but all of it’s parts are edible, with many culinary uses and nutritional benefits.”

Dandelions are a highly versatile herb

This year,  a warm spring has seen Dandelions growing everywhere.  So, rather than trying to beat them, why not take advantage of the glut of free food and create some delicious recipes.

Dandelion has been used by herbalists since the 10th century as a gentle liver cleanser and general detox, to treat kidney and gall bladder problems and to aid joint conditions.  It has also been used to relieve water retention, treat cancer and eczema, aid digestive problems and as a blood purifier.

Vitamins and minerals

Dandelions are high in minerals, providing a natural source of potassium which is good for regulating blood pressure, iron, phosphorus, sodium and calcium.

The leaves of the dandelion are packed with Vitamin A, with traces of Vitamins B, C and D.

Dandelion root contains sterols, choline, inulin, triterpenes, tannins, volatile oil, asparagin, and bitter glycosides.

Dandelion Flowers

The bright yellow flowers of the Dandelion make a cleansing dandelion tea, a delicious dandelion wine, which is one of the finest white country wines you can make and a great dandelion marmalade, which has been very popular since Pam the Jam made some on a recent River Cottage programme.

Dandelion leaves

Dandelion leaves are very high in vitamin A which is essential for healthy eyes.  They can be made into teas or simply picked and eaten raw in salads.  However, the leaves are best picked young, as once the plant has started to show signs of flowering, the leaves will become very bitter.

Dandelion roots

The roots of the Dandelion have been used for many years in herbal medicine but the modern way to use them is to make Dandelion coffee.

We have never tried it yet but apparently it tastes very similar to normal coffee and can be used in the same manner.

Dandelion recipes

Dandelion Tea – A selection of easy to make dandelion tea recipes.

Dandelion root coffee – How to make your own dandelion root coffee.

Dandelion Marmalade - Based on the River Cottage recipe.

Dandelion wine - In homage to the famous “It’s a Good Life” quote; “you’re not self sufficient until you can make your own alcohol”, we just had to include this recipe for dandelion wine.

Roger Phillips, creator of Wild Flowers and its bestselling companion Mushrooms, turns his attention and his camera to the wide range of good things to eat from the countryside and seashore.

From the multitude of species that are safely edible, he has selected those that are actually attractive and appetizing as food. Beautiful colour photography shows each species growing in the wild – for accurate identification – and prepared as an appealing dish.

Well-known wine and food writers such as Jane Grigson, Katie Stewart and B.C.A. Turner are among those who have contributed the recipes that accompany Roger Phillips’ photographs.