Author: wildfoodscotland

The sweet coconut smell from the gorse has started wafting in the fresh morning air and in spring this ‘weed’ becomes a bright yellow feast for the eyes and also for the kitchen.

It is time to explore what I can cook with this abundant FREE FOOD.

The gorse flowers and buds are edible and packed with protein, so as I was running in the morning and smelling the sweet (almost) tropical smell, the idea popped in to my head to make some tasty sweet coconut VEGAN biscuits.

The gorse requires wearing gloves for picking off the flowers, unless your braver than myself.  The gorse bush is home to a lot of spiders, so gloves was a definite for me and also takes half the time.  (Although when you have the sun shining down on you, what’s the rush?)

The petals need to be throughly washed and from experience, the use of a salad spinner allows you to drench the petals and dry them off easily.

My partners Mum had kindly given us some preserved plums from her garden last summer, which would be perfect to use for the biscuits, also it was about time I used these delicious plums.

 Using oats, a small amount of flour, maple syrup, coconut milk, coconut sugar and egg replacement (apple sauce) I decided to bash all the ingredients together and place on some baking paper and then place in a preheated oven.

After just a short time in the oven the biscuits were ready, once cooled on a rack, I had a taste test and being nicely surprised at the sweet and fragrant flavour,  I ate three in a row … they were nae bad!

Luckily this April there won’t be a shortage of gorse petals in Scotland, so Im free to forage this fragrant food often and the good news is the flowers can be eaten raw.  Although a wee note of warning, these flowers when consumed in large quantities can be slightly toxic as they contain toxic alkaloids.

So I will avoid grazing on them like a goat in the field but use them to brighten up my spring salads, yes please!

Welcome, Here at Wild Food Scotland we are embarking on a Journey to find, prep and cook the wild food available in Scotland.  We have always wanted to get back to the roots and learn what mother …

Source: Welcome

Tea Time, that sacred appointment with the gloriously hot steamy mug. A time where it is acceptable to skive work, shoot the wind, chew the fat, relax, socialise and generally faff about. Tea Time …

Source: Pining for Tea

25/01/17 Rabbie Burns Blog Looking out over a weak Monet-esque sunrise through the silver birch as they are buffeted by yet another strong westerly as one finds in the Scottish Highlands three thin…

Source: Robert Burns Night

25/01/17 Rabbie Burns Blog Looking out over a weak Monet-esque sunrise through the silver birch as they are buffeted by yet another strong westerly as one finds in the Scottish Highlands three thin…

Source: Robert Burns Night

Much as J.R.R Tolkien commenced the Lord of the Rings with a chapter titled “Concerning Hobbits” so this Blog shall be  Concerning Dandelions. Although the humble dandelion is not the s…

Source: Concerning Dandelions

Pine Needle Tea doesn’t need a lot of time to prepare or a full day to forage, this is Scotland and Pine trees are not hard to come by. After a short walk on a rainy evening my basket was ful…

Source: Making Pine Needle Tea

Pine Needle Tea doesn’t need a lot of time to prepare or a full day to forage, this is Scotland and Pine trees are not hard to come by.

After a short walk on a rainy evening my basket was full and I could return home to dry off and warm up with a hot cup of freshly picked needle tea.

After removing the needles from the branches with scissors, remove all the brown needles, or anything else you might find like wee beasties or cobwebs and throughly wash them.Having pound the needles to help release the flavours an essential oils, place into a boiling pot of water and let the tea infuse.

After 5-15 minutes according to taste remove from the boil and pour into a cup, I like to add lemon and ginger to my needle tea.  Needle tea is a refreshing drink on its own and that is how my partner prefers it.

With the remaining needles, I placed them in a jar with apple cider vinegar to infuse over six weeks which will make a vinegar that is akin to balsamic vinegar.

We also placed some needles in a jar with vodka to make pine needle tincture.  Now all that needs to be done is to cozy down and drink tea in front of the fire.

In other news, Napoleon loved his needles raw without the water!

 

Tea Time, that sacred appointment with the gloriously hot steamy mug. A time where it is acceptable to skive work, shoot the wind, chew the fat, relax, socialise and generally faff about.

Tea Time we love you.

Considered a very British pastime it is perhaps surprising to learn that we didn’t invent Tea, climatically it would have been impossible, The Chinese did the honours somewhere around 59BC while we were still half ape, here in the Northern reaches.

Britain did not even wholly embrace the concept of Tea culture when it initially became a commodity on the European Market place.

Although forgotten, much like Mr Blairs lackeys, we all have a National Debt of thanks to pay to Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles II and “Queens” New York namesake. It was Catherine that introduced the concept of Tea Time to the British court of 1662. For the greater public it wasn’t until the 1800’s that Tea really took off as a national pastime.

You are probably wondering why at Wild Food Scotland we are contemplating Tea today as everyone knows tea is grown in the warmer climes of Asia and India, what can Scotland offer us for our daily brew.

Today we are going to explore a medicinal form of Tea, one that has great health benefits and with a drizzle of Lemon and Honey can be thoroughly enjoyed on a daily basis.

Say hello to Pine Needle Tea.

Scotlands “airts and pairts” (countryside) boast many densely populated forests which are primarily Pine. As a harvestable product pine trees are quick growing, hardy and numerous, much like the Scots themselves. Surviving all the weather that can be thrown at them they seem to laze idle on many a slope nearly contemptuous of their environment.

Pound for pound Pine Needles pack five times more Vitamin C than a Lemon and also contain a high count of Vitamin A.

In layman terms Pine Needles are excellent for boosting the Immune System and are full of antioxidants which are critical for healthy vision, hair, skin and neurological functions as well as red blood cell production.

Now as a caveman I would just near boil my water and make my tea with a handful of cut needles, however, one can also steep the needles for a few hours to really draw out the essentials. If using the Tea medicinally one should boil the needles in water for 3-5 minutes, this will draw out the oils in the needle. One can always go down the route of witchcraft and brew a tincture by soaking  jar of needles in alcohol.

Each pine needle creates a slightly different taste and this can be experimented with till the user finds a taste to suit. Generally the Tea will be quite astringent and require honey or lemon to make it more palatable. If drinking the tea doesn’t appeal to you don’t worry there are also external applications for the tea.

Used to bathe feet the tea helps relief Athletes foot as it has antiseptic properties, as a face wash it breaks down skin oils and reduces the effects of acne. The tea can also be applied to your luscious locks to reduce itchy scalp and dandruff.

The prize winner for the lassies (women) in the audience has to be that Pine Needles have anti-ageing qualities. The anti-oxidants fight the effects of UV damage and the Vitamin C content contributes to the production of Collagen (what keeps the skin looking young). Can you imagine a world containing a free anti-ageing product… Haud (stop) the bus!

As a wise man once said “on a serious note”…. Pine needle tincture is extremely useful for aiding blood circulation and reduces complaints of swelling commonly associated with arthritis and rheumatism when applied locally on skin. The Needle tincture can also be added to water to relieve sore throat due to its antiseptic properties and will thin mucus and aid in breathing difficulty being as an expectorant. Anemics also benefit from the positive effect it has on red blood cell production.

Seriously the pine needle is banging! We would be mad to ignore its gifts.

A point of interest for any aspiring pine needlers has to be Toxicity; In general all pine species are toxic to a greater or lesser extend much like the Big Mac. However there are a few species to be watched out for of which the most fatal is Yew (Commonly found at burial sites) also in the  list of shame is Lodgepole,Ponderosa, Monterey and Norfolk Island  Pines. One should always consult their shady search engine or intelligent friend for species identification before committing to a possible night toilet fizz.

In other news…guess what?

Its time for a cup of tea!

Enjoy!

 

 

Much as J.R.R Tolkien commenced the Lord of the Rings with a chapter titled “Concerning Hobbits” so this Blog shall be  Concerning Dandelions.

Although the humble dandelion is not the stuff of legends, and is most unlikely to be journeying to Mount Doom for its holidays, it does still hold a place in in the chronicles.

Taraxacum Officinale being its scientific name roughly translates to “official disorder remedy” the official being used in this case to indicate it is an “official” medical species. The common name of dandelion is loosely translated from the French (Dent de Lion) the Latin (Dens Leonis) and the Greek (Leontodon)  to mean Lions Teeth.

Anyway, moving swiftly forward from the archaic (I don’t want you to click “P**s Off” and go back to watching Justin the Beaver or something equally non entertaining  and useless to society).

You should be aware, I hope, there are two things we all know about this wee piece of greenery. Firstly, it makes an nice drink (Dandelion and Burdock) that unfortunately went out of fashion much as everything else of the 80’s and 90’s did; The Lost Generation we wail, our reckless hedonistic lifestyle appears lost on the health fixated youth of today. Secondly, many of our fathers, mothers or gardeners extrordinaire will have been heard at some point in our childhood moaning about this perfidiously tenacious weed!

A WEED they say!

Well let me correct you.

Aside from our resident greenery enthusiast “Le Petit General” Napolean being absolutely crazy about dandelions (he is a rabbit by the way). My better half  and I enjoy the taste of a springtime salad composed mainly of the Dandelion  leaves 🍃.

During the winter-spring transition dandelion shoots are at their sweetest and can be added to salads with no beating around the bush! They are also awesome as a sandwich filler. Coming on to Summer as the leaves mature they start to gain an acrid taste that requires additional preparation (boiling will do)  before chomping.

Dandelion medicinal properties include the  stimulation of stomach secretions which help to relieve indigestion/bloating. The root has a restorative effect upon the liver causing it to regenerate and aid bile production. Last but not least the leaves are considered a diuretic that helps the production of urine/flushing of toxins and are an excellent source of potassium. How they rank against the banana I couldn’t say but they box carrots out of the ring.

All in all this uncompromising hardy plant deserves more attention than that of “weed” status. It is tasty, it is free and it is plentiful! To me this is a no brainer so the next time you pick up a “freshly prepared” week old salad at your local commercial  hovel take a step back, keep the cash and select a few choice leaves out of your garden, they will grow back swiftly, don’t worry.

A final note for all you lovers of the filthy vernacular; yes please! Dandelions are also known as “wet the beds” or “pissy beds” (UK) and in the USA “blowballs”….. really don’t know what the Americans do with their yankie doodle dandies but at least the phrase makes sense now.

Mon the dandies! (Scottish vernacular for “Come on”)