wild wine

Milkmen

Nettle Soup

You cant get much more local or seasonal than wild food. Wild food is the stuff that grows – well wild in hedgerows and fields.

Now I used to run squealing at the very mention of such. I was once invited to natural banquet of wild food. The main dish was a fricassee of shaggy ink caps that had disintegrated into a slimy heap of black sludge. They looked and tasted revolting and I vowed never to eat anything that wasn’t bought from a shop.

But then there’s Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, writer and celebrity chef. Hugh rhapsodises about wild food and nettle soup. When he tells me that nettles are good I am going to listen on account of his food being lovely.

Apart from Hugh there are other reasons to try nettle soup. Nettles are a great source of calcium, magnesium, iron, numerous trace elements and a range of vitamins including A and C. Moreover though they are a pain in the allotment, at least they are growing. While my seedlings are being ravaged by floods and slugs, the nettles are shooting up. Best of all they are free.

So last week I donned my very thick gloves and collected a big pan of tender nettle shoots. I washed and steamed them and made soup. I admit my first mouthful was nerve racking but its true, once cooked, nettles loose their sting.

If you fancy trying nettles, gather from a nice clean place i.e. not by the side of the road or toxic dump. Wear rubber gloves when picking. Wash them well (keep those gloves on and children out of the way ) and use as you would spinach. I mean as an ingredient in soups and sauces not as a stand alone vegetable. So far I have made soup and a rather good nettle and salmon pasta bake.

For more information go to www.nettles.org.uk