These are quite a rustic version of wild nettle pakoras and are very simple to make, you can use many different wild greens if you like. I had three cornered leek to hand, rather than wild garlic, or you could use a clove of cultivated garlic. I've also learnt a few things while making these […]

Here in Cornwall, three-cornered leek (allium triquetrium) is often called wild garlic. I don't have a problem with that. I enjoy local names, to me, I associate it with locals taking ownership of the plants, land and so-called weeds surrounding them and I see that as a good thing. (Allium triquetrium has long, thin leaves […]

It's here! A little book (perfect for taking out with you) focused on foraging in the diverse county of Devon. This is where my foraging journey truly began, so I'm delighted to write a book based on the wild foods available here. What's in the Wild Food Foraging in Devon book? 18 wild edible plants, […]

This simple, vegan Salsa Verde recipe uses four different wild greens that grow here in Cornwall. They are spring greens that you can also find in Southern Europe and coastal areas. The four wild greens I use for this recipe may surprise you, they surprised me! The first and main ingredient are the leaves and […]

I've had such fun experimenting with edible violets! Their colour and aroma are a delight, if not a little elusive to pin down! So I thought I'd share my best Dozen Recipes for using Violets for sweet and savoury, complete with notes on colour and flavour. Most of the recipes I share here use sweet […]

Common hogweed shoots, also known as cow parsnip (Heracleum sphondylium ) add an aromatic twist to this Indian dahl recipe. Think of this common weed as the exotic, wild vegetable and you'll be close to what hogweed offers us. A good dahl is simple to create and is a great carrier for mild spices and […]

This is so easy and a great way to use wild herbs and smother baked potatoes, toast, fish or anything you wish with foraged goodness. The butter can either be used within one week or frozen and sliced as needed. When to make herb butters Spring is often when an abundance of herbs appear and […]

People often assume I live in the countryside with a beautiful garden, which isn't entirely true. Yes, I do live in Cornwall, 3 minutes walk from the sea, though I also live in Penzance town and have a small Cornish backyard rather than a garden. Myth broken! I love my town house and from the […]

Spring is full of wild ingredients that are perfect for adding into, oh so many different recipes. Farinata - a savoury bake made out of chickpea flour - is a great carrier for these spring wilds. Like an omelette, though egg-less, baked in the oven and extremely tasty, it happens to be vegan and gluten-free […]

Spring is exciting - a combination of warmth and light gets plants, animals and human-animals going. Sometimes, for me, too going. The term mad march hare feels too close to home for me, as I prance around the hedgerows picking wild greens as if there is no tomorrow, or as if spring won't last forever, […]

Simple and delicious (wild) onion-flavoured water biscuits. Serve with cheese or just plain on their own. I made these for a group of school children who loved them (phew!). They ate them plain and with wild herb butter on. This recipe uses three-cornered leek (Allium triquetrium), but you could use any of the wild garlic […]

I don't mind what you call it. In Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly this plant is often called wild garlic. Those who call it this know what they mean. They know they're talking about the onion grass, the long, thin one that smells of garlic. In Australia and New Zealand it's known as onion […]

When I was a student I discovered wild garlic. Vast green and white carpets of wild garlic in between the trees of the forest. Gathering armfuls for cooking with go-to student pasta was fun and exhilarating, and cheap. We also skip-dived and gathered waste food to binge on  - it was an odd and unbalanced […]

I’ve wanted to try this recipe for ages, for possibly 2 years this recipe has been sitting in a recipe book and in my mind and somewhere in side of me I’ve been eager to make it. Though perhaps not eager enough, until now. Sea spaghetti cheese straws just sounded like a wonderful idea, an […]

Here in West Cornwall, Three-cornered leek (Allium triquetrium) is considered an invasive; an unwanted weed that is hard to get rid of. My solution: Eat it! Three-cornered leek is mild, sweet, onion-y flavour and is one of the plants I call spring medicine. Here I offer a simple recipe and tips to make sure your […]

Testimonials Hi Rachel many thanks for the foraging course last Wednesday, we really enjoyed it and Dave and the boys have already been back to forage bladder rack, Irish moss and pepper dulce and made some soup! He cooked and added it to a carrot based soup!  - all made up! Cathy, Cornwall Just wanted […]

Thanks One's individual journey is never truly one's own Thank you to.... To my parents for all those country walks as a child and my ancestral line that's blessed me with clear sight, acute senses, strong instincts & intuition To Martin and Mandy who first introduced me to 'Pennywort' and the possibility of eating from […]

Despite being brought up in the city, my early memories are of nature; sitting in a field and talking an imaginary language, going down to see the ‘catkins’ on the tree at the bottom of the garden, and picking armfuls of bluebells to take back to my mother from the nearby wood. I seemed to […]

Our culture is predominantly one of fear mongering - the newspapers & media are full of it, keeping many in business as we seem to thrive on the flight-fight instinct of protect & defend. Funny really, as so many of our predators are extinct, our fears could justifiably be considerably reduced. More recently the fear […]

It's deep December and I'm standing outside. Actually, there's 8 of us standing outside and waiting for the one that's gone astray. Once we're all congregated, we begin. There's something innately quiet about walking in Winter, as if all around us is sleeping, and in some ways it is. We walk together through this slumbering […]

Elderflower cordial is the ultimate summer drink, scent and medicine. As I sit here in my kitchen I'm enjoying their light, dreamy scent wafting across the room, of the ones I picked this morning. Summer foraging for elderflowers is almost as popular as blackberries in autumn, or wild garlic in spring, and all for good […]

Can you tell which one of these plants is edible and which is poisonous? In this blog I explore potential mistakes with white bell flowers and flowering three-cornered leek, touch on why it is important to get it right and a true story to remind you to check what you're picking! Spring Foraging Spring is […]

Can you see the mistake? There actually aren't any winkles (Littorina littorea) on my dinner plate, these are mostly topshells with a hidden whelk or two. Topshells and whelks are also edible. Winkles, also known as common perwinkles have been eaten for thousands of years by humans. They're an abundant univalve (they have no hinge […]

I've been using seaweeds in and as food for long enough now.  I've got into the the swing of which seaweeds to match with what recipe and amounts to use. Dulse (Palmaria palmata) with potatoes is traditional, in bread feels natural and, I feel, has long wanted to be matched with Baba Ghanoush.   Baba […]

I still remember the first olive tapanade I ever had. Rich olive puree, decadently lathered onto toast. Years later I created my own seaweed tapanade for my book: Seaweed Foraging in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly in which I matched the seaweed Egg wrack (Ascophyllum nodosum) into a delicious blend of black olives, garlic […]

I like to experiment. It's not that I don't repeat tried and tested recipes that I love. I do, but sometimes I like to experiment and try something a little bit different. I have a couple of recipes for seaweed hummus and seaweed dips (including Broad Bean and Sea Greens Dip and Kelp Hummus which you'll find […]

I love, love, love Rock Samphire (Crithmum martimum) though it has taken me a while to get used to it. When I first tried it, having plucked it off the rocks on the south coast of Cornwall I just thought it tasted 'unusual'. Fifteen years later I understand and appreciate it's complex flavour more and […]

Nettles are amazing - nutritious, versatile and abundant. Never under-estimate the humble stinging nettle (urtica dioica) it's one of the best wild greens we have (nettles  contain iron, vitamin c, protein and so, so much more). Really we should and could be celebrating, and using this wonderful plant a lot more. Thank you nettles, and […]