or

by

Richard Rutherford-Moore of Nottingham, UK

{Submitted by Chuck Casada}

In the past my accomplices have insisted on viewing the contents of meals prepared by me before the ingredients go into the pot (where they are not so easily spotted by the suspicious). Hunting with gun and snare is now not so welcomed nor easy on these isles as in my boyhood; some modern ‘hunter-travelers’ gather as they go from wayside sources which provide nourishment without the need to carry a gun or knife

English villages - particularly old ones - have the odd ancient house at which around back an echo of a forgotten past can be found. Neglected gardens at one in a nearby hamlet shows the overgrown remnants of the creation of a herb patch for ‘palate and physic’. A good friend of mine was able to show me which plant was grown for cooking and others for medicinal use. The ubiquitous Romans when visiting these shores left many a seed dropped from sandal or stocking, which introduced to Britain new plants from the East. Fennel, ground elder, and henbane were deliberately cultivated. Just how some of these were found to be medicinal is sometimes vague, as the recipes for their preparations shows; some even have magical or pagan associations which surround them with mystery. A working knowledge of medicinal herbs and their applications would be a godsend for any wilderness traveler. Although travelers in the open air do not suffer unduly from ailments like colds and flu, knowing a yarrow brew cures a headache and an infusion of coltsfoot for a sore throat comes in handy.

Common herbs such as lemon-balm, borage, caraway, chervil, and chives, coriander and sorrel, parsley and thyme are easily identifiable and add much to simple dishes, especially fish and fowl. They also make pleasant ‘tisanes’ which make a nice change from trade rum, chocolate or drinking cold spring water.

As a friend once told me, herbs are ‘handy’ - they can be used to flavor food and drink and then cure you of the ailments you gain through eating and drinking too much!!

A story related to me whilst out picking mushrooms created some concern about the contents of my basket. The common ‘ink-cap’ (coprinus astramentarius) can be eaten without harm; but if followed by alcohol it can make the eater feel quite ill and turn his face, neck and arms purple. Most fungi can be eaten, but it has little goodness and most cooks use them purely for enhancing taste or adding ‘bulk’.

Dandelions - those pests which plague the lawn - can be extricated with a trowel or hatchet and the root trimmed off. When roasted and ‘ground, it can be used as a coffee substitute. The leaves

can be used (remember to change the cooking water) as part of a salad. nettle buds taste good; nettle stems can be made into stout rope. Some plants have multifarious uses, good AND bad. Clematis (Old Man’s Beard in winter) has lovely fragrant flowers and provides a shady and fragrant resting spot in high summer. Not for nothing is it known also as ‘Travelers Joy’ but it has a less well known aspect too.

Insects can also be put on the menu. THIS aspect has still a little experimentation to go from my point of view; but the larvae of bees, wasps, caterpillars, moths and mealworms are said to be delicious fried in a little fat and spread like jam on unleavened bread ‘twists’, made by wrapping the dough around a metal ramrod and holding it over the fire embers.

Nuts and berries are only around in the autumn BUT if you know how to preserve and pickle they can be gathered, treated and stored then eaten all year around. Some nuts yield a good flour, and can be baked into ‘bread’. As any housewife will tell you, jam making from the fruit crop was an age old chore often enjoyed by all the family. Travelling in September often brings you culinary delights of late summer flowers and herbs, coupled with nuts and berries just waiting to be pickled and eaten.

I conclude this short piece by saying it heralds a larger work. Should anyone be thinking that I am obsessed with one subject, the article conations nought about food!

Please note that the author recommends you touch and eat nothing from the wild without being quite sure of it. Many eatable plants and fungi have poisonous look-alikes to trap the unwary. many statues also exists prohibiting the picking of wild plants and flowers; Be Aware!

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