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

Rose hips are the seed pods of roses, both wild and cultivated.  Once the flower petals fall, the hard green hips will swell until they start to ripen in October and November, turning a bright red or orange, depending on the variety.

The word “Hip” originally comes from the Middle English “hepe”.  Among rose growers and specialists, the term is “Hep”.

There are many localised variations, including some weird and wonderful names such as “pixie pears”, “pig’s noses”, “hedge-pedgies” and “nippernails”,

A rich source of vitamin C, usually made into a syrup or jelly and have a documented use since medieval times and Rose Hip syrup became a very important source of vitamin C during the Second World War when oranges were not available. The tons of hips required were collected by armies of volunteers every year.

After the war, rose hip syrup lost some of it’s popularity but recent research has shown that they may play a very important part in the treatment of joint problems such as arthritis and can now be widely found as supplements in tablet and capsule form.

Many varieties of rose hip can be edible but connoisseurs claim Rugosa hips have the best flavour and are the least difficult to prepare.

Preparation of the Hips is quite fiddly and it is important to wear gloves. Each one must be top and tailed,  cut in half and the seeds and irritating hairs removed. Once prepared, they can then stewed, dried or pounded into a paste which freezes well.

Rose Hip recipes;
The Cottage Smallholder - try Katy’s Rose Hip Syrup recipe.
Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall – Rose hip syrup recipe in the Guardian.
Rose Hip Syrup Recipe and uses from Makeitandmendit.com

In the Press;
Rose hips and athirits article from the NHS
Rose hip “Remedy for Arthritis” report by the BBC