Edible Leeds - Wild Food Foraging Courses and 4 Wild Seasons Pop Up Dining Events

Cracking day out yesterday introducing two very talented, creative, food passionate chefs to a range of natural, native & non-native wild edible seeds, roots, tubers, foliage, nuts, berries, herbs, spices & fungi. I took a range of preserves, pickles, tinctures, drinks, syrups, dried goods to demonstrate some of the techniques/practices I use with wild foods, they brought plenty enthusiasm, ideas and fun, oh and a bottle of elderflower fizz that fell out of the back of the je ep and met a grizzly end on the tarmac  :( Alex Bond is setting up his own restaurant in Nottingham later this year and Liam Sweeney will be joining him as Sous Chef. Both already had a good take on many wild edibles but required some assistance in fine tuning and developing their knowledge further (where I came in to the equation) so as to be able to play/experiment/understand and get creative with their menu. I learned plenty great ideas/techniques on the cooking/cuisine/creativity side from them bo...

Preserved Unripe Figs. Batch #1  I recently acquired a copy of 'The New Wildcrafted Cuisine' by, Pascal Baudar (many thanks to Dominick Tekos for sending it me). Despite the fact that he resides in California, much of the books content is applicable with regards to techniques, philosophies, creativity and inspiration, and some of the wild plants, regardless of where in the world you reside. Understanding our native floras & faunas is the same the world over I guess. Climates, habitats, techniques, cultures etc do differ but I firmly believe we all have innate and transferable knowledge and practices, whether they be ancient or contemporary (some yet to be rekindled/discovered/attained even), and we can adapt them to our own wild plants, landscapes, seasons, resources and requirements.                                           Now, moving swiftly on to the main them...