Clare Hastings
24-02-2025
where to forage across the Uk
"Wild food gathering is one of Indytute's most popular experiences. It ticks all the boxes. A morning out in the fresh air, with a forager - aka obsessed wild foodie - is a proper treat"
Over ten different foraging experiences across the UK. .
In a small way I was brought up on the forage. We didn't put dandelion leaves in the salad, but my mother was always on the lookout for herbs. On holidays in Greece she would scour the local hillside for thyme and rosemary, marjoram and basil, herbs guaranteed to seep deliciousness into our meals, for we always stayed in very DIY villas, some without electricity or running water, but herbs blessed from the heat of a Cretan sun would ooze scent and taste into the most basic of omelettes.
Sorrel was another favourite, that bitter, lemony leaf that makes a salad into a chef's delight. The soup is a strange unappetising colour, but throw a swirl of cream into the equation and everyone cheers. I never see Sorrel in shops, you have to grow it, but it is so easy. A pot on a balcony would keep you in leaves for an entire summer, and it turns a bag of supermarket lettuce into a completely different experience.
I used to pick young nettle heads and make them into soup, or an extra vegetable for lunch. The heads must be the fresh new ones, and a good rinse is essential but that's it. Use gloves to pick them. The minute they have been steamed or boiled the sting has gone, and they taste very similar to spinach. Squeeze of lemon and you're away. Free food.
I often stay with a friend in Suffolk, and if I time it right a walk along the estuaries often produces Samphire stalks. The emerald green shoots only need a quick rinse to remove any mud or sand and they can be steamed to salty goodness in a few minutes. Serve them with a vinaigrette or even a hollandaise for a seasonal treat.
Wild food gathering is one of Indytute's most popular experiences. It ticks all the boxes. A morning out in the fresh air, with a forager - aka obsessed wild foodie - is a proper treat.
Every season produces its own unique food, from mushrooms and berries to seaweeds, flowers and leaves. After a couple of hours with an expert, you will never look at a hedgerow in the same way again. You will just be thinking 'food'.
Some of our experiences end with a foraged meal, so you can taste just how good wild recipes can be, and some of the flavours are truly astonishing. Wild fennel quiche meets parasol mushroom risotto - you get my drift. And of course, it does pay to go with a proper forager. You don't want to get sick and some plants do look very like another, you also learn about foraging etiquette, and yes there are rules.
Don't pull a plant out by the roots for example, and don't be greedy, leave something for the next walkers. We have over ten different courses, which are run all over the UK from London to Kent, Brighton to The Wirral. Lunch with sustainability at the heart.
