It’s that time of year when all the early autumn fruit is ripening, a sort of bonus gift from nature to apologise for the end of summer and the imminence of winter. I’ve been pickling and preserving like my life depended on it, which historically would probably have been all too true.
Happily most of us no longer have to endure a subsistence lifestyle but while the blackberries are fat and juicy, you might like to do a bit of foraging and make this fruity, gently spiced cake. Continue reading
The elder tree is a remarkable thing. It doesn’t look like much – it’s more of a weedy shrub or a shrubby weed than a tree – but it gives us fragrant elderflowers early in the season, and deliciously winey elderberries at this time of the year. Continue reading
Stephen and a spit-roasted rabbit
It’s nearly Easter and as regular readers will know, I like to make a rabbit recipe round about now. After last year’s laughably scary bunny-shaped terrine, I needed to redeem myself and fortuitously, someone gave me a rabbit the other day. Continue reading
It’s been a fantastic year for wild fruit, with huge sprays of blackberries and sloes dangling enticingly from the hedgerows. Continue reading
Pretty but inedible (I know now)
Like a lot of Brits I’m leery about picking wild mushrooms. Hedgerow fruit, no problem. Wild garlic, absolutely. But in spite of the fact that I often picked field mushrooms with my dad when I was a child, I’m funny about funghi. Too many Agatha Christie novels at a formative age, perhaps, along with a yawning gap of ignorance.
“Mushrooms have got a bad PR agent, that’s all,” says Carl Shillingford Continue reading
Sorry, I picked all the good ones
This is a cheat’s version of crème brûlée, made with Greek yoghurt rather than a rich eggy custard. It’s a no-bake, quick-to-make recipe, which means you can use the spare time to knock up the hazelnut twists Continue reading
It was a bit of a wrench picking the hips from the wild roses because they looked so beautiful glowing in the autumn sun, but I consoled myself with the thought that they’d shrivel and drop off soon anyway and I’d be conserving their flavour through the winter, suspended in an amber jelly. Continue reading
Harvesting the last of the wild plums from the hedgerow and being short on time, the thought of picking the stones out of bullace jam didn’t appeal. But it’s one of the family’s favourites so I wanted to keep the bullaces’ gorgeous greengage flavour while cutting the workload. Continue reading
I love the foamy, scented flowers of elder but on balance, I probably love them more when they’re made into a fragrant summer drink. Continue reading
I’d never heard of bullaces before I moved to Suffolk. Now I’m knee deep in them.
They’re a type of wild plum that grows in the hedgerows in East Anglia, although different varieties apparently grow in various parts of the UK, from east to west. Continue reading