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

I first came across Vin de Noix in the autumn of 2019, courtesy of my good friend and chef, Josh Whitehead. For me, Vin de Noix, is an alchemical stroke of liquid genius! It is wonderfully aromatic, delightfully complex in taste and worthy of all the time, effort and patience required, to create and eventually, crack open, share and sup with friends, loved ones and pop up diners. Originating from France, Vin de Noix is the cousin of the Italian, Nocino and the Spanish, Ratafia (all are made with, unripe, green walnuts). Prior to being introduced to Vin de Noix, I had only ever made Nocino and really struggled to get my taste buds around it's strong, over-powering, oily and bitter flavour. Since discovering VDN, my preference definitely flows in the direction of the French version. I also envisage more experimentations with Nocino - a palatable version is required! Perhaps VDN is that version... The three different versions of VdN that I've made, have all been subtly unique. It...

As some of you will know, spring heralds the return of the wild alliums; Wild Garlic, 3 Cornered Leek, Few Flowered Leek, Chives, Rosy Garlic, Crow Garlic and others. Wild Alliums, in particular, the first 3 species from the above list, receive much attention from me as they are super prolific in areas that I frequently forage. Not only are they super abundant, they are exceptionally tasty and extremely versatile, providing plenty opportunity for a raft of dishes and preserves. Annual Allium tasks that keep me busy during spring are the creating of; pesto's, flavoured oils, lacto-fermentations, protein curds, flavoured butters, pickles and flavoured salts (using smoked and dehydrated leaves). I also love creating simple and tasty dishes from the fresh leaves, unopened flower heads, open flowers and seeds, in raw form and cooked. So far this season (April 2021), I've made and crafted;  2.5kg Wild Garlic Pesto 1.5kg Few Flowered Leek Pesto 1kg Lacto-fermented Few Flowered L...

I have very fond memories of gathering Dandelion leaves as a child in order to feed them to my pet rabbits, of picking the full flowers and racing around the local park, arms outstretched, imagining myself an airplane and using my thumbs to flick the flowerhead missiles clasped tightly in my hands. I remember picking the furry looking, globe-shaped seed heads, taking a deep breath and then exhaling fiercely in an attempt to magically synchronise the number of exhales with the time of day and of peeling the hollow stems, to see how many thin strips I could reduce it to while occasionally touching the very tip of my tongue to the white sap and then recoiling in humour-fuelled-horror at the extremely bitter flavour: happy days! I hope those of you reading this remember your early memories with dandelion?   As I grew older, my attention turned to more pressing, age-related activities, mischief and social norms and I slowly began to forget those days of simple, innocent play and wo...

Hard to believe a full year has flown since hosting our last winter pop up - time flies! Spurred on by glowing feedback from diners at last years event, we can't wait to get back in the kitchens and tantalise your taste-buds once more. The following link will take you to a page I recently published, explaining more about 4 wild seasons and it's ethics: https://edible-leeds.blogspot.com/p/4-wild-seasons-wild-food-dining.html Game For It... 4 Wild Seasons are taking over the kitchens once again at Seven Arts:  http://www.sevenleeds.co.uk/  in Chapel Allerton, Leeds, to cook and serve you a menu that is local, seasonal, natural, wild & different. Game For It, will be a 6 course, 2 canape and petit four, taste odyssey, featuring the harnessed yet untamed flavours of forest, hedgerow, mountain, coast & meadow, bringing you the very best in wild, seasonal, foraged and other flavours. All foraged & non-foraged ingredients will be ethically sourced, lovingly fer...

It really is one of those 'love, hate' relationships, depending on which side of the proverbial fence you find yourself. Personally, I love Japanese Knotweed. I love it's potential as a diverse food & drink resource, I'll delve deeper into that arena later. I also find it to be a striking and handsome plant. I've read some very interesting academic, scientific and medicinal literature, both mainstream and non, which raised many a question regarding Japanese Knotweed; how it's perceived professionally, and thus culturally, and how this determines and affects it's subsequent treatment by humans. I heartily recommend the book 'The New Wild' by Fred Pearce - a book all nature lovers, conservationists and environmentalists should consider reading. Like so many, I too was led to believe that Japanese Knotweed aka Fallopia japonica was a botanical nightmare, especially with regards to its reportedly negative impacts on our beautiful countrys...

I love Mackerel! It's a much under-rated fish except by those who have sampled its excellent culinary qualities. Mackerel are members of the tuna family and are always present in UK waters. Summer is the best time to fish for these oceanic beauties when they congregate in great shoals lured closer to shore by the warmer waters. They are tastiest when freshly caught - I find they don't respond well to long term storage - and given how easy they are to catch, you'd be crazy to miss out on the fun and fine feasting they offer. Mackerel will eat just about any bait you offer them and you only need 1 large or 2 small fish per person to satisfy appetites. It's very easy to get carried away when fishing for them due to their ravenous appetites, so adhering to a strict mindful, ethical code of practice is essential - I've caught a full-house on many an occasion and quite often after my first cast: a full-house is when you are using mackerel feathers as bait, these feathe...

Prepping the Pollack While exploring and playing on a delightful beach on Islay I managed to catch this lovely Pollack, total fluke catch really, was doing a demo cast for Liz of https://foragefinefoods.com  when it took the lure. It weighed approx 1.5 - 1.75lb. I'd been thinking (and hoping) of catching and cooking a fair decent fish using this method for a while and I'm really glad I got to do so while on Islay and in such grand company . After dispatching the fish at the beach, gutting and cleaning - all parts discarded became food for other creatures - it felt only fitting to clean it in the very waters it had come from. Ingredients: Pollack (or Pollock) Wild Thyme Wild garlic Sweet Cicely Sorrel Seaweed:  Pepper dulse Carrageen Sea lettuce Sea spaghetti Kelp Poaching liquor: Plum Liquer Alexander root tincture 5 Carrot bitters Method:  1) On returning to the hoose, 5 incisions were made on both sides of the fishes flanks an...

This recipe culminated after a days foraging with friends on Anglesey 2015. I'd never made a ceviche before and after finding myself with the perfect ingredients; seaweed, coastal greens, fish, I did :) Ingredients:  1 fresh Mackerel, filleted, de-boned and skinned        Sea Noodles Juice of 1/2 a Lime/Lemon/Orange (depending on fish size/quantity you may need to up this citrus juice amount) Sea Arrow Grass Sea Purslane Pepper Dulse Red Chilli Hogweed Pinch of Sugar (optional) Method: 1) Put the prepared Mackerel into a bowl with the all the other ingredients except the Thongweed. Stir & place in fridge for 20 minutes. 2) Plate the thongweed, spoon on the ceviche mix, add a little fresh chopped pepper dulse & extra sea purslane (I let the natural pepperiness & saltiness provide the seasoning). S 3) Serve with some fresh, gently steamed, buttered sea beet shoots/flowering shoots. Feel free to play with other ingre...

Foraging doesn't get much more hardcore than climbing halfway up the side of a mountain in early winter in order to obtain your desired pickings and my recent trip to the Lake District saw me doing just that. My quarry, wild Juniper! My first encounter with wild Juniper was back in 2010, on the very same mountainside I recently visited in the Lake District. A low level mountain walk, coupled with introducing a friend to the delights of the Cumbrian Fells, resulted in the discovery of a small forest of Juniper trees, a pleasing encounter. I recall picking a small handful of those purple, black, aromatic berries, receiving many a spiked needle in my fingers while doing so, and eventually savouring their culinary attributes, mainly in the form of wild game dishes, hearty stews and the odd pickling experiment. Prior to that visit in 2010, my first encounter with Juniper was via a sketch in Monty Pythons' 'The Life of Brian', those of you who have seen the film will r...

The gang going fishing Part 1. Saturday 22nd July. There are many fantastic locations around the UK for foraging - I'll not delve into all those but I'll write a little something up at a later date - and whether you choose to start on your doorstep (always a good place) or, head to the woods, meadows and waste grounds, eventually & hopefully, you will explore the joys of coastal foraging. For me personally, all foraging has it's place. I generally avoid pinning myself to 'favourites', as all aspects of foraging have something to offer and (avoiding favouritism here), coastal has a certain air of 'special appeal' about it. I wrote some blurb for the introduction section of my coastal recipes page &you can read that here:  https://edible-leeds.blogspot.co.uk/p/coastal-recipes-fish-shellfish-seaweed.html Anglesey has an energy, allure and delight that just appeals to the visitor, whether you are there for adventure, relaxation, nature immersion...