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

Some of the reasons why I and many others love fungi:  http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150202-six-bizarre-things-about-fungi?ocid=twert

As many of you will have seen in my previous post, 'Wanderlust Part 2', I was lucky to come home with a variety of extremely exciting, interesting and tasty ingredients, namely fungi & herbs. So what did I do with those delightful ingredients....  First things first, cleaning. Wild fungi, true wild fungi that is, grow in the wild and there is soil, grit, woodland/grassland debris etc..., fact. Some fungi that you pick will be pretty much free from any debris but if it isn't, then a clean prior to cooking may be required - think fish n chips on the beach as a kid, mmmm, crunch, grains of sand, doesn't put you off eating them but you wish that you'd been a touch more careful when stepping over your portion to grab the ketchup! Once the fungi were of a standard of acceptable cleanliness, I set about grading and sorting them for the various roles I had in mind. What follows is a peek into those recipes/ideas.

I decided to head to Scotland afetr my wanderings in the Lake District (see part 1: http://edible-leeds.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/wanderlust-part-1-lake-district.html ). Many reasons prompted this decision. I had been there a month earlier (and many an occassion over the years), I would be visiting the Lakes in a few weeks time, I had heard on the grapevine that the summer fungi season had begun (cue slightly muted 'YAY!' for fear of shattering my computer screen), there is a 'wildness' & 'vastness' that you only really find north of the borders and my friend and fellow wild food enthusiast, Mark lives there. I also intended to pay a visit to Monica Wilde, another of Scotlands fine and friendly wild time clan, unfortunately but fortunately for Monica, she was having a wild time on Maskin Island and our paths this time wouldn't cross - oh dear, looks like I'll have to make another long and arduous trek later in the year - 'sighs and smiles smuggly t

I was over-taken by the urge & desire to wander. My birthday was approaching. Moon was waxing and would be full in two days more and would coincide with, 'Lammas' - celebration of the early harvest. The call of the wild was explicit and clear, I was stuck in the city, I didn't want to be here. Now, I love foraging, I love Leeds, I love visiting my various wild food haunts but there are times when a desire to explore new areas and regions really take hold. The UK is home to a variety of habitats/environs and each of these are host to a varying array of wild species. If, for example, I wish to find Spignel (Meum athamanticum) then it's fairly pointless in me trapsing around Yorkshire in search of it - Spignel is reportedly found in only 2 regions in England, 1 in Wales, 5 in Scotland and introduced at 1 site in Ireland. My love and enjoyment of wild plants, fungi etc... is an extension of my wider love of nature. It's great, after a day of wandering the fields,