Can you recommend a wild food book?

Louisa_2 · 7 September 2005 at 10:05PM

Having been given/collected from hedges and the like lots of edible wild fare so far this year can anyone recommend a book that would teach me more about how to take advantage of this type of thing? Or even just seasonal cooking, I think that is whats so much fun about it. I have got the river cottage books and they are quite a nice introduction to seasonality, I'd really like to find out more now about edible wild crops. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

competitionscafe · 7 September 2005 at 10:31PM

A Cook on the Wild Side by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - might have to scour ebay and /or charity shops though?

Curry_Queen · 7 September 2005 at 11:31PM

You beat me to it cometitionscafe as I'd have said basically any of HFW's books. I currently have the Meatbook and the River Cottage Cookbook in my collection but there's a new one due out anytime now which I also want to buy.

Oooops just re-read the OP and realised you already got these books

In that case, have you tried the River Cottage forum? Also the UKTV Food website has a lot of seasonal info and recipes

competitionscafe · 8 September 2005 at 12:11AM

Curry_Queen wrote:

Oooops just re-read the OP and realised you already got these books

Oooops, I missed that too.

Sorry, that's the only one I know of but as suggested the river cottage forums folk should be able to suggest others. Ray Mears books/dvds might be of interest too? (although they are more focused on what to eat from the wild to stay alive rather than what actually tastes good!).

Also maybe one of these? (although I haven't read them, they have good reviews on amazon)

Food for Free by Richard Mabey:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0002201593/

Wild Food by Roger Phillips
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0330280694/

moggins · 8 September 2005 at 8:01AM

I can really recommend the Food For Free by Richard Mabey, I've owned a copy for years and it's brilliant and small enough to carry around with you.

There's also a big section on foraging on Downsizers.net that you might want to look at

bugs · 8 September 2005 at 9:16AM

competitionscafe wrote:

Also maybe one of these? (although I haven't read them, they have good reviews on amazon)

Food for Free by Richard Mabey:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0002201593/

Wild Food by Roger Phillips
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0330280694/

Both of those are good; look hard at Food for Free as there are several different versions from a tiny Collins Gem to one you can't fit in a rucksack. I personally prefer Wild Food, has recipes too! And is arranged roughly by season which is helpful to start off with. ACOTWS may still be available from River Cottage's online shop, they did a reissue of it and it was about £15 rather than the £100plus the original was fetching :eek: - if you only have £15 to spend though I would go for Phillips or Mabey first, the pics are better for identification.

There's plenty of information on the net too, have a look for Wildman Steve Brill - American, but his name will take you to lots of other good sites too. And as Moggins says downsizer.net has a big foraging section, as well as a separate foraging board on the forum our resident guru (don't tell him I said that

) does a monthly guide to what's good in the wild now - I might have to chivvy him for September's but I can recommend you start off with Wild Foods for August and Top Ten Mushrooms for Beginners

Finally if you are interested in mushrooms one of the best things to visit is your local wildlife trust who will often run educational courses. These won't necessarily tell you what to eat but will help you a lot with how to identify species and habitats - also try your local council which may run a countryside department, eg last year's Surrey Farm and Village week had a walk on our local common looking at fruits, mushrooms etc.

krishna · 9 September 2005 at 9:15AM

competitionscafe wrote:

Food for Free by Richard Mabey:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0002201593/

Wild Food by Roger Phillips
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0330280694/

Used both and they are good, especially the Mabey. Also Hedgerow Cookery by Rosamond Richardson.

Louisa_2 · 9 September 2005 at 11:31AM

thanks everyone, lots of food for thought tee hee bad joke sorry

culpepper · 9 September 2005 at 12:38PM

Ive got the food for free mini gem version ,it was about £5
I like the little calendar as you can look and see what should be around now

gwydion_2 · 14 August 2008 at 7:45AM

Here are a couple of sites where you can get free recipes:

Celtnet Wild Food Recipes
Wild Man Wild Food

And an on-line guide to wild food:

Guide to Wild Foods

enjoy...

ceridwen · 14 August 2008 at 7:59AM

...and can I interject a leetle thought purlease at this point re wild food...I'm sure none of us posting so far on this thread are guilty of it.....but:

I have noticed more than one poster elsewhere on this Board putting a query along the lines of "I've picked EVER so much of.....(whatever it was)...and dont know how to use the rest - suggestions please".

So - can everyone remember when they are out foraging only to take what they actually need right now for themselves - and leave the rest for other people.

How many people can honestly say - hand on heart - that they are 100% positive that no-one else will come along shortly after them hoping to pick some free food too - and might find there was nothing left for them (because it was sitting at home in someone else's freezer - or maybe even just plain thrown away as it had been left to "go off").?

Its about need - not greed.

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

Can you recommend a wild food book?

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